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PRAY FOR MUSLIMS DURING THE THIRTY DAYS OF RAMADAN (October 5-November 3)
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Since 1993 there has been a special emphasis to pray for Muslims during their annual fasting month of Ramadan. Millions of Christians from around the world have united during this time to pray that Muslim people will become open to God’s gift of salvation through Jesus. To facilitate this prayer focus, a special Muslim Guide has been prepared for each day of Ramadan. This year Ramadan will begin on Wednesday, October 5, 2005. This prayer guide is available in 42 languages. You can obtain information about this prayer focus each day by going to http://www.30-days.net. A hard copy book is also available through the following address: Thirty Day Prayer Focus For Muslims, PO Box 9208, Colorado Springs, CO 80932, USA
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Brief Review of What Most Muslims Believe:
Five Pillars of Islam:
1. Reciting their Creed (“shahada”) — “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet”.
2. Prayer (“salat”) — at five set times a day.
3. Almsgiving (“zakat”) — 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.
Even if a Muslim observes all of these pillars, there is still no guarantee of salvation. Muslims often think about the Day of Judgment, when they believe Allah (or an angel) will take a balance and weigh each person’s deeds. The only sure way to Paradise is to die as a martyr during an Islamic Holy War (“jihad”). Muslims lack assurance of forgiveness.
Mohammed is Islam’s highest prophet, but the Qur’an (the Islamic holy book) also speaks often of Jesus, who is also known as Isa. Muslims believe that Jesus was born by a miracle of God through the Virgin Mary. However, Muslims do not believe that Christ died on the cross, His resurrection or His deity. Although Jesus is the second highest prophet in Islam, He is only one prophet among 124,000.
Muslims believe angels and evil spirits (jinn) exist and teach that “all good and evil comes from Allah”, introducing a very fatalistic concept at the heart of Muslim faith and experience. The Hadiths (a collection of Islamic traditions containing sayings of Mohammed) contain instruction for almost every detail of a Muslim’s daily life. Please pray specifically for Muslims during this time.
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Please print & distribute the above news in a format suitable for your church bulletin.
Peace,
Mert Hershberger
<+><
Since 1993 there has been a special emphasis to pray for Muslims during their annual fasting month of Ramadan. Millions of Christians from around the world have united during this time to pray that Muslim people will become open to God’s gift of salvation through Jesus. To facilitate this prayer focus, a special Muslim Guide has been prepared for each day of Ramadan. This year Ramadan will begin on Wednesday, October 5, 2005. This prayer guide is available in 42 languages. You can obtain information about this prayer focus each day by going to http://www.30-days.net. A hard copy book is also available through the following address: Thirty Day Prayer Focus For Muslims, PO Box 9208, Colorado Springs, CO 80932, USA
(
Brief Review of What Most Muslims Believe:
Five Pillars of Islam:
1. Reciting their Creed (“shahada”) — “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet”.
2. Prayer (“salat”) — at five set times a day.
3. Almsgiving (“zakat”) — 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.
Even if a Muslim observes all of these pillars, there is still no guarantee of salvation. Muslims often think about the Day of Judgment, when they believe Allah (or an angel) will take a balance and weigh each person’s deeds. The only sure way to Paradise is to die as a martyr during an Islamic Holy War (“jihad”). Muslims lack assurance of forgiveness.
Mohammed is Islam’s highest prophet, but the Qur’an (the Islamic holy book) also speaks often of Jesus, who is also known as Isa. Muslims believe that Jesus was born by a miracle of God through the Virgin Mary. However, Muslims do not believe that Christ died on the cross, His resurrection or His deity. Although Jesus is the second highest prophet in Islam, He is only one prophet among 124,000.
Muslims believe angels and evil spirits (jinn) exist and teach that “all good and evil comes from Allah”, introducing a very fatalistic concept at the heart of Muslim faith and experience. The Hadiths (a collection of Islamic traditions containing sayings of Mohammed) contain instruction for almost every detail of a Muslim’s daily life. Please pray specifically for Muslims during this time.
=====
Please print & distribute the above news in a format suitable for your church bulletin.
Peace,
Mert Hershberger
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