Tomorrow marks the celebration of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. This annual event is celebrated by more than one billion Muslims worldwide. It is seen as a time for spiritual purification, self-reflection, self-sacrifice, prayers, and reading the Koran. Every Muslim that is able to do so fasts from sunrise to sunset for this 30 day period in which he is to draw closer to Allah and to reflect upon that which Allah has revealed.
[Surah 2:185] Ramadan is the month during which the Quran was revealed, providing guidance for the people, clear teachings, and the statute book…
One might naturally ask what is revealed in the Koran and what are the "clear teachings" that Muslims are studying? That was the question I had today so I decided to pull my copy of the Koran from the many boxes of books that still await my attention (the grace period with my wife is about to end). What I found written in the pages of the Koran is a poignant example of the depths to which the fall has brought mankind. Words of hatred and violence filled the pages – and all of this was found in less than five minutes of skimming through the book. Here, then, are just a few of the passages that I found that the Muslim world will meditate upon over the next 30 days:
[Surah 2:191] Kill them [non-Muslims] wherever you find them. Drive them out of the places from which they drove you…
[Surah 8:38-39] Tell the unbelievers that if they mend their ways their past shall be forgiven; but if they persist in sin, let them reflect upon the fate of their forefathers. Make war on them until idolatry is no more and Allah’s religion reigns supreme.
[Surah 9:5] When the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. If they repent and take to prayer and pay the alms-tax, let them go their way. Allah is forgiving and merciful.
[Surah 9:73] Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their eternal home: an evil fate.
[Surah 9:121] Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you.
[Surah 47:4] When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield strike off their heads and, when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly.
[Surah 66:9] Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal sternly with them. Hell shall be their home, evil their fate.
It is probably a fair statement to say that most Christians have never prayed for the Muslim world or have not done so more than once or twice. Now is our time to pray to God that He would rescue the many from the seduction of Islam. We know God has His elect even in the Muslim nations. That alone should encourage us to pray that He would draw out His own even this very day and bring them to repentance. With that said, for the next 30 days during the month of Ramadan I would encourage you to remember the Muslims in your prayers.
