The Muslim Majority

Folk Islam and the Seventy Percent

Over seventy percent of Muslims worldwide practice “folk” Islam, a syncretistic mix of theologically orthodox Islam and traditional religious beliefs and practices native to their culture of origin. Unlike many published works on evangelism to Muslims, which argue for either apologetic or contextualized “bridge” approaches that are often ineffective in reaching adherents of popular Islam, missiologist Robin Hadaway outlines a contextual approach that addresses the unique perspective of popular Islam. The Muslim Majority explains the differences between folk Islam and orthodox Islam, and then explores best practices for reaching folk Muslims with the gospel of Jesus Christ.