This year, at the same time as Christians celebrated Easter, Muslim people observed the Holy month of Ramadan. This is one of the 5 disciplines that Muslims are required to observe as follows:
- Declaring Allah to be the only true God and Muhammed as his prophet
- Praying five times per day
- Pilgrimage (at least once)
- Giving to the poor
- The Ramadan fast
During this month, Muslims are expected to abstain from all food and drink and bodily pleasures during daylight hours. This is usually made up for in the evening when feasts, called Iftars, are held followed by a big breakfast just before dawn. However, fasting during the day is still a challenging discipline – especially in the hot countries of the Middle East where most Muslims live. In truth, not much physical work gets done during Ramadan and people do tend to sleep in the afternoon, but abstaining from food and drink for such long periods is difficult.
As well as Ramadan being a time of bodily discipline, it can also be a time when Muslim people seek God more seriously. There are many testimonies of people having dreams and visions of Jesus during Ramadan which is significant because the Muslim religion places great weight on dreams and visions. One thing we can do is to pray that the Lord would reveal himself in this way to Muslims.
The month of Ramadan can also be difficult for Christians who live in Muslim majority countries, especially those who have converted from Islam, as there is great pressure to conform. In some countries (Saudi Arabia for example) observing the fast is compulsory. We should also pray for our Christian brothers and sisters that they would be sensitive to the Muslim culture, but also that this month would provide them with opportunities to talk about God’s way of grace with Muslim people whose faith is based on observance of their religious laws. Whereas for a Muslim fasting is seen as a way of earning his way into God’s favour, a Christian would see it as a way of responding to God’s grace as well as drawing close to Him and seeking answers to prayer.
– Hugh Shepheard-Walwyn