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The Power of Ramadan and the Power of Prayer
Dawud was a teenager who had been abandoned at birth. He had been cared for all his life by foreign missionaries in a Muslim town just south of the Sahara. He had been born lame in one leg and the missionaries had cared for him, raised him and got him medical treatment. They raised him as a Christian. He started school late and only reached high school well into his teens. Extreme variations in age in this school was not unknown. I taught there and found a woman in her thirties in what we would call Year 8.
Ramadan is the Muslim month of fasting. Muslims are required to fast from food and drink during daylight hours. The Islamic year is shorter than ours, so Ramadan comes at a different time each year. This one fell in June and it was phenomenally hot, over 40 in the shade most days. Two days into Ramadan, Dawud declared that he was a Muslim and would keep the fast. The missionaries were heartbroken. They had not seen this coming at all. Why would Dawud choose to embrace Islam at the very hardest time of year? He had not fallen out with his adoptive family. He was not under pressure from the authorities. He made a choice.
Peer pressure was a factor, but that does not do justice to what was happening. Ramadan is a community experience. It is not necessarily enjoyable, especially the first week as the body adjusts to going without during the day and then needing to be up much more at night, but there is a huge sense of being in it together.
I first saw Ramadan in action when I lived in Sudan. My Christian Sudanese friends told me that the Muslims all went a bit crazy in Ramadan; it was best to give them a wide berth. It was a good time to have Christian conferences and training days but not a good time to reach out. I knew from books what it was in theory, but now I saw it in practice. It is like an annual renewal event. Muslims who were backsliding and getting into bad habits, made extra effort. Those who were middle of the road tried harder. Those who were zealous became more zealous still. That sense of everyone pulling together is a major element. Dawud wanted to belong so much, he went without water all day in the blazing heat.
I found that Christian missionaries in my new location had much the same reaction as my Christian friends in Sudan. Ramadan was a time to back off. As a team we discussed it and decided to commit to praying months in advance that Ramadan would not slow the progress of the gospel. As the time got closer, we realised our prayer was too timid. We started praying that Ramadan would serve the gospel. That year we saw a huge difference – more interest, more openness and more responsiveness than usual. That was 1988, which I think I am right in saying was also the first year that the 30 Days of Prayer Booklet started.
Ramadan occurs every year, but at a different time, as it follows the lunar calendar. Find out when it starts this year. Does it have the same power in the UK? The question is not a simple one to answer. Some British Muslims really look forward to it as a very sweet time of year, others dread it and many are somewhere in between. Every Muslim household is affected as food and sleep times are changed. People know what they should be doing even if they are not. The sense of community is there, but often people find themselves in work environments that are not conducive to fasting. It is a very tough time for converts who are living with Muslim family. For those who feel a deep need to draw near to God, it is a time of seeking. We should be praying for these folk that God surprises them. For people who go through Ramadan reluctantly, breaking the fast and trying not to get caught, let us pray that their dissatisfaction leads to them to be open to other ways. Let’s pray too for believers caught in the tensions of the month.
If we know any Muslims as neighbours or colleagues, we should not hesitate to take an interest, to ask them how it is going and to listen sympathetically. We can tell them that we are praying that God will touch them, give them his peace and to bless them in greater measure.
Ted from the Mahabba Network