God is providing me opportunities to interact with Muslims but I do not feel prepared. I did a ride-along this week on a prisoner release and the guard was a Muslim man. He told me he was fasting and then I remembered it is Ramadan. But what does that mean? Looking at Ramadan and fasting so when God gives you an opportunity, you can show Jesus’ love to the soul standing in front of you.
Ramadan
I am not a scholar so thank you for your grace with me as I try to simply, respectfully explain Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam. This is a period of time when Muslims remember Muhammad having his first vision. They remember this by fasting. Between the new moons, they abstain from food, sex, and sometimes even water while it is light out. They use this time to draw closer to God and believe their sins are forgiven for the year when they participate.
What does fasting mean? Fasting is the willful refrainment from something for a period of time. From a spiritual standpoint fasting from things like food and sex is connecting to God through your body. Fasting can be found many places in the Bible, even Jesus fasted. I encourage you to go look it up.
How can this knowledge be useful in talking with a Muslim? Many would be surprised to find out Christians fast. An opportunity to ask them why they are fasting and then share why you fast.
Thank you to the many of you who patiently answered my questions, provided examples and resources, and are just generally available to advance the Kingdom, I apologize if I missed you: Aaron, Ann, Beverly, Christopher, Clea, Isaac, Kelly, Nabeel. To learn more about Muslims please visit GotQuestions.org and search Muslim or Islam.
