An eight-year-old boy named Toumarou and a six-year-old girl named Tamoudjatou are two Muslim friends of our daughter Eliora and our son Elie-Dana. One time when Toumarou and Tamoudjatou came over and found our children reading a Bible picture book, an interesting conversation followed, part of which I overheard from the next room.
Islam teaches aniconism—that it is wrong to make images of prophets or other respected religious figures or divine beings. Many Muslims also feel it is wrong to make images of anything living, as creation of living forms is reserved for God. Dendi Muslim children are taught to reject images and even to insult those who use them and regard those people as unbelievers.
Looking at the Bible picture book my kids were reading, Toumarou said, “That is not Jesus!”
“Yes it is!” my kids replied, thinking it quite obvious.
The argument grew more heated. At one point, I heard Toumarou say, “If that is Jesus, why does He look different in other pictures?”
Upset, Elie-Dana brought Toumarou’s question to me. Intellectually, I knew Toumarou was correct that it wasn’t an actual image of Jesus. But how could I answer my four-year-old son in a way that wouldn’t confuse him? I said something like, “It is Jesus, but not His actual picture because there were no cameras then. It is a drawing of Him, just like your sister and you draw pictures of things differently.” Though I felt my answer had been somewhat weak, Elie-Dana was satisfied with it and went back to his friends to boldly defend his position.
I didn’t overhear the rest of the argument that day. But later, when I learned the rest of the story, I discovered I had been Jesus’ unwitting accomplice in demonstrating the power of His name to Toumarou and Tamoudjatou. Here is how it happened:
As the argument continued, my children came up with a test to settle the question once and for all. They told their friends, “Whether that is an actual picture of Jesus is not important. What is important is what He can do for us. So let’s pray for something and see if He answers.” Everyone agreed, so my kids prayed that Jesus would fix their bicycles so they could ride with Toumarou and Tamoudjatou. (My kids’ bicycles had both been broken for some time, and I hadn’t gotten around to fixing them.)
A few days after their secret prayer, I decided to surprise them by fixing their bicycles while they were at school. When they saw their repaired bicycles, their outburst of joy and praise to God startled me. They couldn’t wait to show their friends what Jesus has done.
Praise God! I pray this experience will bring Toumarou and Tamoudjatou one step closer to belief and faith in their Savior. Also, if you have a better answer to my son’s question, I invite you to email me and share it. Thanks for your prayers and support.
