May 5, 2019 begins Ramadan for the Muslim world. If you type “Ramadan 2019” into the search bar, there will be a myriad of results – from recipes for the first breaking of fast to what the requirements are to keep a Ramadan fast. For those who may not know, Ramadan is a month of fasting AND feasting! It is a celebration for the entire Muslim community. However, when I was a Muslim, I was not like some of my friends who looked forward to this time. I dreaded the month and it made me anxious.

There were good reasons for me to be anxious, for I was not a good Muslim. I would think about food all day long, I would find reasons not to fast and then, I would just plain give up after about a week (if that!). Of course, I didn’t tell people about this sad state of affairs and lack of dedication. I simply added on to my scale of bad deeds and lied to people that I was indeed fasting.

There are many rules of what to do and what not to do during the 30 days of Ramadan. There are even rules for the NON-MUSLIM (as spelled out here from an article from Saudi Arabia, the arbiters of what goes and what does not go for Islam) who lives in a Muslim country! The article says that even though one might not be a Muslim, they still need to adhere to the laws – no eating or drinking in the public while the sun is shining, no chewing gum, no smoking, etc.

For the Muslim person, there are many rules that spell out how to behave and how to begin and end your day. I was told that drinking a small amount of water from rinsing my mouth after brushing was haram (bad deed) and could technically break my fast. I was also told that anger or being mean to my family (= being “hangry”) would also nullify my fast. So many rules!

Many Christians want to know – what does Allah want from Muslims during Ramadan? There are many things, but here’s a chart for quick reference. Notice under the “5 Quick Tips” on number 5, it says “Follow up a bad deed with a good deed.” I believe that just about sums up Ramadan. It is a time for Muslims to try to please Allah… but with all those bad deeds, can one actually please him?

So what does the BIBLE say about pleasing God?

According to the website gotquestions.org In the New Testament, the apostle “Paul reminds the believers in Rome that “they who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8). So the first step in pleasing God is to accept the sacrifice for sin that He provided in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Only then are we “in the Spirit” and not “in the flesh.” We do this by faith because “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). “

All of us who have confessed that Jesus Christ is the only sinless one who could pay the price for all the sins (bad deeds) in a perfect sacrifice that was pleasing to God become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). In order to please God, we have to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit who is given to us and who lives in us, instructing us daily how to walk according to the ways of God as revealed in the Bible (the word of God). We also have to live by faith, live and love according to Jesus’s command (John 14:21) which is to love Christ and love one another.

I believe that is one of the biggest differences I found in leaving Islam and accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. There was a peace in knowing and accepting that I could not please God from my own works. I kept messing up daily — I would think a bad thought, reply in anger at the driver who cut me off, or lie about something. I kept sinning and falling short of the rules I was supposed to abide by. The beauty of Christianity is not in us DOING things, it is in what Jesus Christ DID already for us on the cross.

May those who are fasting for Ramadan seek the one True God who is revealed in the Bible as the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6) AND may those of us who belong to Christ pray for the next 30 days for Muslims around the world to find peace through the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN.