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Ramadan Opportunities
“Brother, we’d like to invite you to give a speech from the Holy Bible at an iftār (breaking of fast) meeting in our mosque,” the mosque leader said to me, “it’s for Nazūl-i-Injil.” Surprised and delighted, I readily agreed.
Nazūl-i-Injīl means “Descent of the Gospel”. You may be familiar with the Muslim belief that the Qur’an descended from heaven to earth during Ramadan. That event is known as the Nazūl-i-Qur’an. The Night of Power, Laylat al-Qadr in Arabic, is when, in Islamic belief, the Qur’an was sent down to earth and when the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to Muhammad. Many believe that the Night of Power falls on one of the odd-numbered nights of the last 10 days of the month of Ramadan.
Less well known is the fact that some Muslims also commemorate the descent of the earlier holy books during Ramadan. Nazūl-i-Taurāt (Descent of the Torah) is commemorated on 6th Ramadan, Nazūl-i-Injīl on the 12th, and Nazūl-i-Zabūr (Descent of the Psalms) on the 18th (some traditions change these last two round: Psalms on 12th and Gospel on 18th). Ibn Kathîr mentions this tradition in his Stories of the Prophets (p.561).
Not all Muslims seem to be aware of these traditions, but in my city some mosques have these three Nazūl dates marked in their Ramadan calendar. For a number of years this has led to the maulana (leader) inviting me to go to the mosque and give a speech from the Bible on one evening during Ramadan.
I usually start by bringing greetings from my church community. I commend them for the tradition of celebrating Nazūl-i-Taurāt/Zabūr/Injīl, and stress that these are shared books – not just Jewish and Christian books, but Muslim books too. I then read a passage which I feel is appropriate and speak for a few minutes on that passage (examples over the years include Isaiah 58*, Matthew 5:43-48, Luke 7:11-17; 18:9-14). My aim and prayer is to whet people’s appetite to want to discover more of the message of the Bible.
This Ramadan, why not ask your Muslim friends whether they are aware of or celebrate this tradition. You may get an opportunity for creative engagement with Muslim friends – perhaps explaining what the Bible means to you, telling a story from it, or giving an attractively presented Bible or Gospel to your friend or to a mosque.
A member of the Mahabba Network
*Click here to see how Isaiah 58 can be used