Eid ul-Adha
Your Muslim friends will have recently celebrated the feast of Eid ul-Adha, the time when they remember Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son. The Muslim story differs a little from the Biblical account as they believe that it was Ishmael who was placed on the altar. But this is still a great time to talk to your friends about the Lamb provided as a sacrifice.
Read more about Eid ul-Adha here
Sharing Stories at Eid ul-Adha
Some tracts that may be useful as you share with your friends – ‘Why did the Prophet Abraham offer a lamb in the place of his son?’ and ‘Why did God command sacrifices?’
The Hajj
This is also the time of year when Muslims all around the world will take the journey to Mecca to do the Hajj. Making the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia once in a lifetime is a religious duty for all Muslims who ‘have the means’. It is one of the five pillars of their faith alongside professing their faith, prayer, giving and fasting.
Read more about the Hajj and how to talk about it with your Muslim friends here
What would you want in a seminar?
Last month our trustees gathered for their annual meeting. This is one of the ideas that was shared:
The Network Circle are thinking of offering online topical seminars for Mahabba members and groups to be invited to. Seminars could be on sharing faith or how to lead a prayer meeting. The aim of the meeting would be to have some input but also a time for interaction, support and prayer for one another. If you have any thoughts on seminar topics that you would like to have email hello@mahabbanetwork.com.
Did you fill in the Network Survey?
Matt from the Promo Circle has this to share about our survey results:
It's so encouraging to learn that the majority of Mahabba groups continued to meet, or in many cases actually grew in size, during the pandemic restrictions. Even during a time when meeting in person was impossible, both for prayer and for the interaction with Muslim friends and neighbours which is such a big part of Mahabba's focus, people were persistent in prayer. What a wonderful testimony of faithfulness that is - and what a challenge to continue praying, and now to go out again and share life with our Muslim friends and neighbours, now that those restrictions have been lifted!
Meet the Volunteer
Hi, I’m Matt Vaughan and I help out with the Promotions Circle at Mahabba. My family have been serving cross-culturally with Interserve for over ten years now – first in Pakistan for eight years, then in Malaysia, and now in east Birmingham. We are gradually learning the UK cross-cultural context, and living in a parish which is around 70% Muslim is a good introduction!
I am passionate about Jesus and I love hearing and sharing stories of where he is at work in the world he created. I hope to go on sharing stories of his work through Mahabba!
Could you help?
If you, or anyone you know, has spare time to offer to Mahabba there are vacancies to be fulfilled such as working with social media and fostering healthy discussions on our community platform. For more info and for a friendly chat about whether this could be a good fit for you, get in touch with Simon by e-mail hello@mahabbanetwork.com.
Volunteer with Mahabba
As a relational network, volunteers have been vital to the growth of Mahabba. We currently have some gaps in our Support Circle, which help support local groups and Network activity.
If you want to serve the Mahabba vision and have a few hours spare per week or month, we’d love to hear from you. Click HERE
Join the Conversation
This month our MAHABBA COMMUNITY have been chatting about all sorts of topics, including recommending free training available and sharing encouraging testimonies.
We’d love you to join the conversation - sign up for Discourse HERE
Coming Up
Our CALENDAR has all the latest, most relevant events for those reaching out to Muslims. Ramadan has begun. Register for information about the prayer events happening throughout April and May.
See our events HERE
Don’t Forget
Our RESOURCES page is full of creative ideas and stories from others, to help equip you where you are.
Find out more HERE