Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. It is during this month that Muslims observe the Fast of Ramadan. Dates for Ramadan 2012 (or 1433) are 20 July – 19 August.

Coinciding with Ramadan, we produce a booklet for the Christian world called, “30-Days of Prayer for the Muslim world” (which can be ordered here ).

The first evening of Ramadan

In many places around the world Muslims will be looking to the heavens this evening. They will be interested in knowing if they will be able to see the crescent moon. If it is visible this will be the signal for the beginning of the month of Ramadan. (In most countries religious authorities will make a proclamation concerning the beginning of Ramadan). No fasting will take place till tomorrow morning. Muslims will rise early to eat their breakfast before the day begins. Afterwards they will not have anything else to eat or drink till nightfall. This will be their daily experience during the next 30 days.

Fasting – Ramazan

Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of the religion of Islam and one of the highest forms of Islamic worship. Abstinence from earthly pleasures and curbing evil intentions and desires is regarded as an act of obedience and submission to God as well as an atonement for sins, errors, and mistakes. Called Ramadan (or Ramazan), Muslims fast during this holy month from the moment when it first starts to get light until sunset. Muslims fast as an act of faith and worship towards Allah, seeking to suppress their desires and increase their spiritual piety. Fasting together as a worldwide community – Ummah – affirms the brotherhood and equality of man before Allah.

Islamic Calendar

The Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle. The month of Ramadan is the ninth month and begins with a combination of the sighting of the new moon and astronomical calculations. The exact time of Ramadan sometimes varies from place to place as some rely heavily on the moon sightings while others depend on science. An Imam (Muslim holy man) will declare the exact time of Ramadan just prior to its commencement. The fasting period ends upon the sighting of the next new moon, which occurs after 29 or 30 days.

The lunar cycle changes each year. For example, this year Ramadan will be 22 August-20 September, but last year the dates for Ramadan were 01-30 September. (See our Islamic Calendar article for details .)

The Meaning of Ramadan

The name Ramadan is derived from the Arabic word ramida or ar-ramad, denoting intense scorching heat and dryness, especially the ground. From the same word there is ramdaa, meaning ‘sunbaked sand’ and the famous proverb Kal Mustajeer minar ramadaa binnar – to jump out of the frying pan into the fire. Some say it is so called because Ramadan scorches out the sins with good deeds, as the sun burns the ground.

The Special Feeling of Ramadan

Ramadan brings out a special feeling of emotional excitement and religious zeal among Muslims of all ages. Though fasting is mandatory only for adults, children as young as eight willingly observe fasting with their elders. Children look forward to the excitement of sighting the moon and eating special meals with their families. Adults appreciate the opportunity to double their rewards from God and seek forgiveness for past sins. As Ramadan emphasizes Muslim brotherhood and community all feel a particular closeness.

Muslims have to change their whole physical and emotional selves during this 30 long days of fasting. A typical day of fasting begins with getting up early, around 4:30a.m. and sharing a meal called Sahur together before the fast begins at dawn, about 5:10a.m. As dawn breaks, the first of five daily prayers, Fajr, is offered.

As the day proceeds, fasting Muslims are constantly bombarded with messages from their stomachs that it is time for breakfast, snack, lunch, and so on. And each time, Muslims remind themselves that they are fasting for the sole purpose of pleasing Allah and seeking his mercy. They offer the second and third prayers during early and late afternoon, respectively.

Fasting helps one to experience how a hungry person feels and what it is like to have an empty stomach. It teaches one to share the sufferings of the less fortunate. Muslims believe that fasting leads one to appreciate the bounties of Allah, which are usually taken for granted – until they are missed!

Throughout the day Muslims are encouraged to go out of their way to help the needy, both financially and emotionally. Some believe that a reward earned during this month is multiplied 70 times and more. For this reason, Ramadan is also known as the month of charity and generosity.

To a Muslim, fasting not only means abstaining from food, but also refraining from all vice and evils committed consciously or unconsciously. It is believed that if one volunteers to refrain from lawful foods and sex, they will be in a better position to avoid unlawful things and acts during the rest of the year.

Breaking The Daily Fast During Ramadan

The fast is broken at sunset. The Prophet Muhammad recommended breaking the fast with dates. Muslims are urged to invite others to break the fast with them. These gatherings are called Iftar parties.

Just after breaking the fast, and before dinner, Muslims offer the fourth of the five daily prayers, which is called the Maghrib prayer. After dinner, Muslims go to their houses of worship, called Mosques, to offer the Isha prayer, which is the last of the five daily prayers. The day ends with a special voluntary prayer, the Taraweeh, offered by the congregation reciting the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam.

The Last 10 Days of Ramadan

The last ten days of Ramadan are considered highly blessed, especially the 27th night which is also called the ‘Night of Power’, or the ‘Night of Destiny’. It is believed that on this night the prophet Muhammad received the first revelation of the Qur’an. For many Muslims, this period is marked by a heightened spiritual intensity and they may spend these nights praying and reciting the Qur’an.

After 30 days of fasting, the end of the month of Ramadan is observed with a day of celebration, called Eid-ul-Fitr. On this day, Muslims gather in one place to offer a prayer of thanks. It is traditional to wear new clothes, visit friends and relatives, exchange gifts, eat delicious dishes prepared for this occasion, and wait patiently for the next year.

We also have a special version “Just for Kids” and families:

What the Bible Says About Fasting

In the Bible, we do not find any one method of fasting required of us, but the Lord Jesus did say however, “when you fast…” (Matthew 6:16), seeming to assume that His followers would imitate His own example. We fast as an outward symbol of our devotion to God, being willing to deny ourselves food for His sake. Fasting adds intensity to our prayer, and often leads to breakthroughs. We do not fast to convince or persuade Him, but rather to identify with His broken heart and with His desire for all mankind to know Him. “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out.” (Isaiah 58:6 &7)

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These are some creative prayer ideas and tips on how to use the 30-Days Muslim World Prayer Guide materials in a group or for your personal prayer time.

Organizing group prayers

You can use these materials to pray creatively by yourself in your own prayer times, and also to join with groups of others to pray together. We would encourage you to find creative ways to involve as many people as possible with you in this prayer focus. Jesus gave some special promises of blessing for Christians who come together to pray and agree as a group.

You could organise some weekly or twice weekly meetings over the 30 day Ramadan period with your church, your youth group, your committee or leaders’ meetings, your women’s meetings, home Bible studies, cell groups, children’s groups; in fact, any occasion when your Christian friends and associates meet together.

A Social Occasion

Take a social occasion and turn it into a prayer event as well. Have others join with you in a special meal using the prayer topic for that day. Find out all you can about that particular culture – including food and dress, music, sports, etc.

Facilitator

It is helpful if one person is chosen as the leader/facilitator of the group for that time of prayer. This person can give direction and cohesion to the prayer time, and assist the group in using the following guidelines.

Focus

As you pray through the Prayer Guide that are suggested for each day, ask and expect the Holy Spirit to lead you in prayer, revealing certain areas of detail and specific focus for you to pay particular attention to (Romans 8:26).

Take notes and keep a journal of your prayer times. Particularly note any Scriptures that God may prompt you to read concerning that day’s topic.

It is helpful if the group focuses its prayers for one subject area at a time, rather than chopping and changing all over the place. Each person should wait before moving on to a different topic, until every person has been able to pray out their prayers over the current subject area (1Corinthians 14:40). Make sure that all have an opportunity to pray for that area or need if they want to.

Be Creative

Look for ways to make your times of prayer varied and interesting. God is infinitely creative, and has made us in His image, so we can expect creative ideas and prayers to flow as we seek Him. For example, using a map or reading out a short article on a particular country or need related to the day’s prayer theme can add interest and spark new ideas of needs to pray for. Photographs and pictures, maps or even radio, television and video documentaries can do the same.

Strategic

“The Night of Power” is a strategic night of prayer. Consider setting aside this night for an all night prayer time with your church or mission group. ["Day 26" can be confusing. The reason is night precedes day in the Islamic Calendar. In the past the prayer focus was on Day 27, however, for many the Night was already over....]

Believe

Let us believe God for an outpouring of His Spirit on our Muslim neighbours worldwide. Let us pray and believe for the fulfilment of Revelation 7:9, that every group, including the peoples of Islam, will be represented before the throne of God on that final day.

Make It A Different Prayer Meeting – Specific for “The Night of Power”

During Ramadan our mission committee floated the idea of holding a prayer night on the Muslim “night of power” when God often works in miraculous ways throughout the Muslim world. (‘Night of Power’ prayer nights can be used throughout the year!)

It won’t be another “dull” prayer meeting.

We recognise that “prayer meetings” are seen by many as dull or boring and often have a corresponding lack of attendance – “just another night out”. As we wrestled with this, the idea came to use a format that has been used in various ways by our creative ministries team. So began our journey to create various prayer “stations”. The aim was to cover as many of the senses and prayer styles as possible and yet be informative and not too disjointed.

Set up the meeting room

Our venue was the church auditorium, from which half the seating was removed giving wings at either side which were lit. On the entry side was information on Islam (including Ramadan, the Night of Power, Muslims and sin, Muslims and Jesus) with prayer focus points and information on several countries, sourced from the “30 Days of Prayer” booklet and added to by pictures and library books. Prayer points were highlighted. One of these stations focussed on ‘dreams and visions’. It looked at the importance of dreams and this night of revelation to Muslims and had scripture and prayer points. It also had some testimonies of Muslims meeting Jesus through dreams.

The other side focused on Islam in our country, from similar sources. This side also contained a trestle covered with newsprint on which was the outline of a world map (traced from a wall map) and felt pens for people to write prayers. Our national stand also had hand outs available for people to take away on how to witness effectively to Muslims and also how to reach Muslim students in our country (these were printed off the 30 Days promotional/resource CD).

Both seats and floor cushions were provided at these stations for those who wanted to use these.

Set the Welcome and Ambiance

At the entrance was a “Welcome” sign and a “please leave your shoes at the entrance”. Headscarves (borrowed from the children’s Playgroup and previously washed) were available for women to wear if they so wanted. These added colour to the entrance as well. We had people do a right turn as they came in the door – most folk naturally turn left – reflecting Arabic language which is written from right to left. On the path to the earlier stations we invited folk to “join with us on a journey through the Muslim world and pray that the people of Ishmael would know the one true God and Jesus as the Messiah (Isa-al-Masih).”

In the centre we left the pews, which were used when we called people together at an appointed time for corporate prayer, lead by our pastor. As a conclusion of this time, small groups went to pray at the various stations. This central area was dimly lit and had a power point presentation running for the duration of the night. Pictures had been sourced from the internet with prayer points and scriptures interspersed. From the sound desk, Arabic style worship music was playing quietly throughout the evening.

Women Only Corner

One of the side rooms off the auditorium was used to focus on the women and children of Islam. The door was curtained and a “Women Only” sign placed beside it. The idea was to reflect a Muslim home and the hospitality of that. Outside the door, like the guest lounge in an Asian home, we had two couches, plus a wall display with pictures and a poem. A table was set with a jug of water and glasses for people to help themselves, along with some snack food which would be similar to the “iftah” with which Muslims break the fast after sunset each day during Ramadan. For this, I used patty pans containing a date, dried apricot, chocolate truffle and some chocolate raisins. Inside, the curtained room was set up as a family room with a kitchen table and similar chairs. A greater number of pictures and prayer points were on the display board here, focusing on women and children – some Mission agencies have calendars which are great for pictures. One table was set with water and food as in the “guest room” and more people partook in the privacy here. (I had a comment from one of the guys, “What did you have in there?”) On another table was a collection of books, again focusing on women in the Muslim world, and paper and pen to record those who wanted to borrow these. This gave it a “homework” feel. A cassette recorder was playing Arabic style music here also. The different timing from the main room gave some clash of sounds as in a busy Asian neighbourhood. It also represented the ministry of songwriters working in the Muslim world, the men amongst which cannot otherwise minister to women. This room was well used during the evening.

Jesus at the center

A spotlight was focused on a beautiful wall hanging that we have in our auditorium, as a reflection point to consider the work of Jesus and His centrality in the continuing work of the kingdom.

We had quite a number of positive responses to the whole evening and felt that it was well worth the effort that was put in. We hope this helps you with creative ideas when you pray during Ramadan and especially on the “Night of Power”.

(From a church in New Zealand)

Tools

Ideas for Praying in Groups – Want to pray with a group once per week or even one day to cover the whole 30 days of Ramadan? Here is a flexible idea to pray 30, 15, 5 or 3 minutes in groups for all the material. That breaks down to 15, 7.5, 2.5 or just 1.5 hour slots – great for churches!

Downloads

• download the Praying in Groups Idea (pray_in_groups_events.pdf [57 kb])
• download the Group Prayer Schedule (pray_groups_schedule.pdf [56 kb])
• Are Your Prayers On Target? A Guide to Victorious Prayer? – A two page brochure filled with biblical references about God’s joy to hear us pray. Designed by us to help encourage your faith when praying during Ramadan. (rk_prayerbrochure.pdf 162 KB)
• “When You Fast … ” A Biblical Guide To Victorious Fasting – A two page brochure including practical tips, health pointers and many starting bible references to begin cross-referencing. Also designed by us to help encourage your faith. (rk_fastingbrochure.pdf 142KB)

[These require a newer version of the free Adobe Reader software.]

Video – creative ideas how to pray

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Jesus said, “This Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Mt. 24:14). The end of the age and the dawning of God’s new world will not come about before all people from different religions and cultures have had an opportunity to hear and to respond to the message. On this prayer site we have made a significant effort to focus our prayers on unreached peoples without neglecting Muslims in more visible and well known settings.

Muslim Populations

• Africa – 400 million
• Middle East – 250 million
• Asia – 800 million
• Europe – 25+ million
• Americas – 5+ million
• TOTAL = 1.48 billion

The figures above give the approximate numbers of Muslims in various regions of the world. In the last 50 years probably no more than one or two million Muslims have come to saving faith in the Messiah. Some people might give a somewhat higher figure. Whatever the real number, it is relatively small, and a breakthrough is needed.

Unreached

Here are some Muslim peoples of over 100,000 without any known Gospel witness. Call out in prayer for them.

Saho of Eritrea – 211,000

Maraikayar of India – 127,000

Mawalud of India – 1,161,000

Nikari of India – 151,000

Pashtun of India – 13,282,000

Thulukkan of India – 269,000

Asahan of Indonesia – 541,000

Bangka of Indonesia – 340,000

Belitung of Indonesia – 100,000

Gayo of Indonesia – 300,000

Kangean of Indonesia – 1,100,000

Takistani of Iran – 330,000

Afshari of Iran – 1,230,000

Khorasani Turk of Iran – 832,000

Seraiki of Pakistan – 17,854,000

W.Baluch of Pakistan – 1,261,000

Burig of Pakistan – 474,000

Kho of Pakistan – 314,000

Kolai of Pakistan – 410,000

Awan of India – 618,000

Chhimba of India – 1,047,000

Kamboh of India – 1,525,000

Kunjra of India – 1,601,000

Makhmi of India – 499,000

Mappila of India – 9,635,000

Kerinci of Indonesia – 260,000

Lembak of Indonesia – 120,000

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Believers in the Messiah, Jesus, have many beliefs and values in common with Muslims, not only concerning faith-related issues but also moral values. People from both faith communities agree that our world has become a dangerous place. Believers in Jesus and Muslims can both be in agreement concerning the following text in 2 Timothy 3:2-5:

“… Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

Common Values

Believers in the Messiah and Muslims share similar common values for daily living: faithfulness (to God and in relationships), honesty, compassion, honour, humility, chastity, self-sacrifice, mercy and love.

Same God?

Muslims and Christians believe that there is one God, but are we worshiping the same God in word and deed? One might also ask: In a time when many people think that all roads and all religions lead to the one true God, why should one pray for Muslims to come to salvation? Does it make any difference? Are they not already accepted by God?

Certainly Muslims are loved by God. Without doing anything they are loved by Him. God counts Muslim children and adults as precious. He loves every aspect of their languages, food, attitudes and daily life which are truly good and right. However, this does not mean that Muslims have entered into eternal life or have had their sins forgiven.

Let us pray for Muslims so they
can enter into the Messiah’s
eternal kingdom.

Muslims are not inspired by the hope of a new world in which Jesus, the crucified and risen Messiah, reigns as King. Most Muslims have actually been trained not to believe that Jesus died and rose again. In general they know little of His forgiveness. They believe that Jesus was a prophet sent from God but they generally never think of Him as God’s appointed King who reigns over the nations (Mt 28:18-20). It is precisely “believing the Gospel of the Kingdom” which is a problem. Like all people everywhere and in all cultures, Muslims are called to turn from evil and believe the Gospel of the Kingdom. Most Muslims around the world have not even had an opportunity to hear the Good News of Jesus’ death for sins and His resurrection, which liberates us from the power of sin, death and demonic bondage.

For various reasons which will be discussed later in this prayer guide, Muslims do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Believers in the Messiah are always rejoicing that “God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).

Jesus has come so that we can have life and have it in abundance (John 10:10). Therefore let us pray for Muslims so they can enter into that life in the Messiah’s eternal kingdom.

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“Praying correctly and at the appropriate time is one of the greatest indications of (Muslim) faith and a great sign of true religion”. Prayer is to be done with heart and body cleanliness, with cleanness of clothing and in a ceremonially clean place. The washing of the hands, nose, face, forearms, ears, and feet in preparation for Muslim prayer is important.

The words

Muslims place very strong emphasis on the exact postures and the words of their prayers (which are always in Arabic). Almost all Muslim prayer is concerned with reciting specific phrases from memory. In the course of the five regular prayer times a Muslim will prostrate himself before Allah a total of 34 times and he will repeat the following phrases:

“Allah is greater”
“Praised be my mighty Lord”
“Allah hears the one who praises him”

He will also recite the “Al-Fatiha” or another text from the Qur’an 17 times, the “Shadada” (Islamic creed), and the greeting of peace to all Muslims.

Answered Prayer

Muslims can make requests to God privately after they finish their ritual prayers. However, this is not done as often as Christians typically make requests. Muslims do not believe that God binds himself to his people through covenants. This is a key concept for understanding their attitudes toward answers to prayer and their lack assurance of God’s steadfast love towards them. In addition, because of the fatalism of Islam, Muslims generally have little faith that their requests will alter their circumstances. They generally believe that Allah’s desires (for good or ill) will always be done despite their activities or requests. Trusting in God for specific responses to prayer in the Christian sense is not practised among Muslims. This is a huge difference between Muslim and Christian religious experience.

When Christians speak of prayer they mean direct two-way communication with God. Muslims never expect God to speak back to them directly at any moment and certainly not during prayer. The vast majority of Muslims will say that God only speaks through the Qur’an. Even Mohammed is said only to have heard from God indirectly through an angel. Christian prayer, on the other hand, is a combination of requests, thanksgiving and praise. The Bible says that we should “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and bless (praise) his name” (Psalm 100:4).

Let us Pray…

* Muslims need to come to know the Christ of Christian prayer. Pray that Muslims would come to believe that God Himself wants to communicate directly with them. Pray this specifically for any Muslims that you may know personally. Pray for the Muslims in your city, region and nation.

* Pray for newly-converted Muslims, that they may develop real confidence in God as one who keeps His covenants, makes promises and who hears and answers prayer.

* Christians need to share their prayer experience with Muslims in humility. Pray that God will give us wisdom when describing our Christian prayer experience so that God would be glorified and Muslims could understand Him better.

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Do you use the moon?

Western urban dwellers hardly dream of using the moon for the calendar, yet for many peoples around the world the lunar cycle is still a major way of understanding time.

In the Bible it is written that God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years” (Gen 1:16). The Jewish calendar was specifically based on the lunar cycle. The names of the days of the week in the Arab or Muslim calendar have obvious origins from Jewish and Christian influence in Arabia.

The following is the list of the days of the week used especially by Arabs and in Islamic nations in general

1. youm al-ahad (first day) – Sunday
2. youm al-ithnayna (second day) – Monday
3. youm ath-thalatha’ (third day) – Tuesday
4. youm al-arba`a’ (fourth day) – Wednesday
5. youm al-khamis (fifth day) – Thursday
6. youm al-jum`a (gathering day) – Friday
7. youm as-sabt (Sabbath day) – Saturday

The first day of the week is Sunday, which is called “youm” (day) “al-ahad” (the first). There is also a Sabbath day (the seventh day), which certainly has Jewish roots, although its original significance as a day of rest has been lost. The present Muslim day of rest is “youm al-jum`a”, meaning the “day of assembly”, which corresponds to the Muslim day of mosque-centred worship (Friday). A Muslim “day” starts at sunset on the evening before the next day: this follows the biblical idea found in Genesis: “And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”

Pagan Origins

It is particularly noteworthy that the Muslim names for the days of the week are remarkably less pagan than their Western counterparts. For example, the word Thursday was originally “Thor’s day” (Thor being the chief god of the Vikings) or – in Latin contexts – Jove’s day (Zeus’ day), which gave rise to words like “jeudi”, the French for Thursday. All the other names for days of the week used in most European and Western countries have similar origins.

How the numbering works

The Muslim numbering for years starts with Mohammed’s leaving Mecca to live in Medina in AD622 – an event called the Hegira. So for example, the year 2007 equates to the 1,428th lunar year since the beginning of the Muslim calendar.

It was not until the rise of the Ottoman Empire that the crescent moon and sometimes a pointed star became symbols that were strongly associated with the Muslim world. (These were not originally Islamic symbols: some Muslims want to remove them from Islam completely.)

Please note: The moon has never been an object of worship for Muslims, though it was an object of worship among Arabs before the rise of Islam.

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Every Muslim is someone whom God loves. Some Christians do not pray for Muslims because of prejudices or fears. Let us pray by asking God to give us a heart filled with love and compassion towards Muslims. We also need to pray in faith and confidence that God will hear us and will move powerfully in answer to our prayers of love and compassion. (John 14: 12-14)

Praying for Muslims: God’s Character

Muslims believe in the uniqueness of an all powerful and supreme Allah. Similar to Christians and Jews, Muslims believe that Allah is creative and eternal. Muslims also believe that Allah is unknowable and that it is impossible to ever really know him or have a relationship with him as a personal saviour. According to Islam, Allah holds himself apart from mankind. When praying for Muslims, pray that they will have a full revelation of the true God and His loving character. (Hebrews 8:8-9)

Praying for Muslims: Against Fear

The Muslim worldview is strongly influenced by an awareness of the supernatural and the presence of good and evil spirits known as jinn. Jinn are greatly feared and are often thought to be responsible for illnesses and misfortune. Superstitions control many aspects of a Muslim’s everyday life and often result in them living in constant fear. This fear reveals a heart cry and desperate need that can only be met in the person and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray against the fear that influences many Muslims. (1 John 4:18)

Praying for Muslims: The Relationship with God

Galatians 4:22-25 tells us that Ishmael was born as a result of works resulting in slavery. Islam means submission and a Muslim understands that he is a servant of Allah. While this is also a Biblical aspect of our relationship with God, it is incomplete. As Christians, through Jesus, we know that we move from being servants to becoming sons and daughters. Pray that Muslims will also understand that God desires for everyone to know Him as children and not as slaves. (Galatians 4:7) (Matthew 18:3)

Praying for Muslims: Assurance of Salvation

Islam teaches that a person must do enough good deeds to outweigh the bad deeds in order to make it to paradise. Even then, there is no guarantee for a Muslim of salvation. As a result of this belief, it is difficult for many Muslims to fully understand the basis of forgiveness of sins. It is also difficult for Muslims to understand repentance. When we pray for Muslim’s to get saved, we are really praying that they will be convicted of sin and know true repentance. We are also praying that they would experience God’s total forgiveness and thus be able to forgive others. And, we are also praying that they would know the assurance of salvation through Jesus, something Islam can never offer them. (Ephesians 2:8-9.) (1 Peter 5:6) (Matthew 6:14-15)

Praying for Muslims: The Work of the Holy Spirit

Never underestimate the work of the Holy Spirit as you pray for Muslims. Allow God to teach you how to pray and to share His heart with you concerning them. Vast numbers of Muslims have come to Christ as a result of supernatural encounters. Many have dreams and visions of Jesus. It is only God who can open blind eyes and soften hearts. Only God can bring true conviction of sin and create new life. (Romans 8:26) (John 16:8)

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The Five Pillars of Islam are:

1. Reciting the two-fold Creed (shahada) (profession of faith) – ‘There is no God but Allah’ and ‘Muhammad is his prophet’ (or ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God’).

2. Prayer (salat) – At five set-times a day while facing towards the city of Mecca.

3. Alms-giving (sakat) (zakat – means ‘purification’, an act of worship) – Both obligatory and voluntary giving to the poor.

4. Fasting (saum) – Especially during the ‘holy’ month of Ramadan.

5. Pilgrimage (hajj) – At least once in a lifetime – to Mecca, Saudi Arabia if at all possible, known as The Hajj.

Although the Hajj is well known today, it should be noted that the Black Stone was a meteorite to which great religious significance was attached even before Muhammad was born. Muhammad simply adopted the pagan practice. Thus the act of walking around the Ka’aba (“Cube”) seven times, kissing and touching the Black Stone became the “Islamic” pilgrimage of “Hajj” – one of the pillars of Islam today.

No guarantee

While a Muslim may observe each of these pillars there is still no guarantee of salvation. Islam is based on a religion of self-righteousness. Muslims often think about the Day of Judgement where they believe Allah (or an angel) will take a balance and weigh each persons deeds. His hope is that his good deeds will outweigh his bad deeds, but even then Allah’s judgement is based solely on Allah’s will – not on justice.

Another interpretation is that man’s deeds are written in a book and on the Day of Judgement Allah will open the book and the sum of a man’s account will be placed in either his right or left hand. The only sure way to paradise is to die as a martyr during an Islamic Holy War, Jihad.

Muhammad

Muhammad is Islam’s highest prophet, but the Qur’an also speaks often of Jesus, also known as Isa. The Qur’an also refers to Jesus as Kalimat Allah, which means The Word of God. Muslims do not believe in Jesus death on the cross, His resurrection nor in His deity. Although Jesus is the second highest prophet in Islam, the Isa of the Qur’an is only one prophet among 124,000.

Jinn

The belief of angels and evil spirits, also known as Jinn, plays a very prominent part in the lives of most Muslims. Although the Qur’an states that ‘good and evil comes from Allah’, this belief is not founded in orthodox Islam but is a result of pagan religions, particularly from Africa and India, being incorporated in Islam.

The Law

Islam incorporates rules for every aspect of life. Within the Qur’an and the Hadith’s there is instruction for every detail of a Muslim’s daily life. The Shari’a – the sacred law of Islam, applies to all aspects of life, not just religious practices. It describes the Islamic way of life, and prescribes the way for a Muslim to fulfill the commands of God and reach heaven.

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