Tag: Prayer

Guilt during Ramadan

On By Mona SabahIn Uncategorized
Ramadan 2020

My iPhone calendar reminded me that Ramadan is again upon the 1.6 billion Muslims around the world. This is a time of reference and reflection for me. I am not only reminded of how Ramadan used to make me feel as a Muslim but the immense guilt it brought along with it… year after year.

Over the last 13 years, the Lord has reminded me of His great mercy and forgiveness. Muslims hope that Allah will be merciful to them. This is the beginning and ending request of each prayer made five times a day. “Bismillah al rahman al rahim”- to Allah the most gracious and merciful. But will Allah be merciful? There is no way for a Muslim to know.

You see, for me, Ramadan was a noise tightening around my neck. It was a reminder of how much I wanted to do the right thing but continued to mess up. How many times I would have to miss prayer time due to corporate meetings I could not miss. How many times I forgot and put food in my mouth, only to give up once and for all. Ramadan was a time of guilt.

When I was working, I asked a fellow Muslim how they were doing with everyone eating lunch all around them. He looked around cautiously and because he knew I wasn’t fasting, he smiled and said he had snacks in his pocket to have later when his devout friend wasn’t around. That’s not descriptive of all Muslims. There are some who are highly disciplined and don’t care about what others are doing. They will keep their fasts. I didn’t meet many of them but I know they’re around— they made sure to point it out to me.

so, the big question was what to do with my guilt? I was wrong. I knew I was wrong. All Muslims were supposed to fast. This Muslim was barely able to keep up with the daily prayers. I was failing miserably and there was no way out of the debt of bad deeds required to get to paradise.

This is where the words of the Gospel changed my life. Actually, they changed my death! I was headed for hell (according to Islam, mind you). I knew that the scales of Allah on judgment day would not balance out in my favor. When I heard the words of truth, the Gospel of my salvation, I knew that I was going to find the peace of God. I cannot explain it. It was like a two ton weight had been taken off and I knew that the things I was trying to do as a checklist meant nothing. They could not help me when I was standing in front of a Holy God.

my guilt was there because my mind and soul knew all my works were frivolous.But I had no remedy for the guilt. How would I ever reconcile my debt of bad deeds?

The answer was CHRIST.

It’s not what we do. It’s what He did on the cross- a sinless lamb who sacrificed Himself for the sins of those who belong to Him. Sinful people continue to sin. Only One who is sinless can allow us into the presence of God Almighty.

Guilt is a symptom of our bad deeds and sinfulness but only Christ is the remedy.

I thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for opening my eyes so I could see how tainted I was and how clean His blood could make me.

“Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of this world!” John 1:29

WHY Memorize Ephesians?

On By Mona SabahIn Bible9 Comments

When I was around 7-8 years old, I was taught how to pray by my grandmother. In Islam, children are taught at an early age to memorize verses from the Quran for when we go to sleep, awake, eat, wash hands, etc but usually around the age of 7, most families begin to teach children the full prayers for the day. One has to understand that this is not like Christian prayers which can be in any language. Daily prayers in Islam MUST BE done in Arabic. The problem is that about 84% of the Muslim world does not speak Arabic.

Not only is the child learning to memorize prayers, but they must memorize them (usually) in a language that is not their own mother tongue. That was my case. Being a very stubborn girl (still am, for those of you who don’t know me!), I refused to learn how to pray until my mother (who spoke Arabic because my parents worked in Saudi Arabia) translated them for me and put them in writing.

Given this background, I did not necessarily relish memorizing Scripture when I became a Christian. Lo and behold, no one was making me memorize either. When I began to study the Bible, I found the words to be like poetry and they filled my soul. I had a DEEP DESIRE to learn these words so that I may share them with others who were having a bad day or were struggling so I began memorizing snippets of Scripture like many in my Bible studies had done.

Last year, for Valentine’s Day, I wanted to give my husband a different gift. I memorized what is sometimes known as the “Love Chapter” from 1 Corinthians 13 (you know, “love is patient, love is kind…”). I memorized it and recited it to him on Valentines Day, except that I said “Stephen is patient, Stephen is kind…” I stumbled just a tad bit, but overall was able to remember it. I tried recalling the chapter over the summer and SURPRISE! It was still there! 🙂 I still pray the chapter out loud so I can continue to remember.

The reason to memorize is not to play a game to see who wins or to have a race. It is to commit the verses to your memory, to pray them over your family and friends or others God places into your life. It is to be a discipline to bring you closer to our Father, it is to help increase our prayer life and to study God’s living Word.

Will you prayerfully consider joining me? I will post the “plan” that I am going to use (borrow from Dr. Andrew Davis) and also how I modify that plan to fit how I learn.

These are my own reasons… now, what are yours?

A Christian’s Guide to RAMADAN

On By Mona SabahIn cultural diversity, culture, Diversity, Muslim, Teaching, Uncategorized4 Comments

ramadan-dos-donts

I used to dread Ramadan as a Muslim… I knew I was supposed to look forward to it each year, but it was so much better to simply ignore it was coming and that I would be judged by how many fasts (“Roza” in Urdu) I would keep.  On the occasions I would fast, I would sleep all day, get headaches, try to brush my teeth because I couldn’t have water and even passed out from dizziness (I used to pass out all the time growing up).  I wrote another blog about fasting here last year.

All of that was worth the night time activities. Being one who enjoys having people over to our home, the evenings would be a time of celebration (we made it!) and we would feast, play board games and cards and eat full meals again until the wee hours of the morning before sunrise… only to do it all over again.

There was even a joke in our family-if you weren’t fasting and if someone asked you if you were keeping your fast, you should always say “yes, I keep it in my closet.” The bottom line is that for Muslims, keeping a fast is a matter of honor and shame for your family. Muslims will ask you straight up if you are fasting or not to see how pious you are (or not, in my case). There is definitely a sense of pressure from the community. This is not felt so greatly in Pakistan or in the Middle East because everyone there assumes you are fasting – it’s just what you do. During the day, restaurants are open only to foreigners (and even that is limited).  In some Muslim countries, it is a punishable crime to eat and drink in the public during Ramadan and the religious police look for people! Everything shuts down, so the only thing to do for women, especially is to watch long movies and sleep.

For many Christians, Ramadan is a mystery. I hope today to untangle some of those confusing ideas.

  1. Ramadan starts upon the sighting of the crescent moon by Saudi Arabia’s High Judicial Court. The dates always vary of when Ramadan starts due to Islam’s use of a lunar calendar (hence the shape of the moon on all things Muslim).  Fasting is for 30 days.
  2. TODAY, May 27 is the first day of Ramadan for 2017
  3. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the FIVE Pillars of Faith (requisite checklist for all Muslims)
  4. It’s not truly fasting as in the Christian sense of the word (completely abstaining from food and water like Jesus did in the desert (see Matthew 4) for 40 days and nights. Fasting for Ramadan is a flip of night and day. You can eat all you want from sunset to sunrise – you don’t touch food or water (not even a sip, otherwise you break your fast) from sunrise to sunset. It’s embarrassing for a Muslim to gain weight during this time!
  5. Ramadan is a time for prayer. Muslims try to get closer to God. WE CAN HELP!!!
  6. Join a Christian movement called “30 days of Prayer”  http://www.30daysprayer.com/ to pray for the Muslim world to come to the LORD. The website also has a devotional book you can order, as well as e-mail reminders to pray for the Muslims around you.
  7. Women who are pregnant or nursing (or menstruating) cannot fast. They will have to make up their fasts at a later time in order to do their duty as a Muslim. Children and the very elderly do not have to fast. There are also some exemptions made for athletes and those who are traveling.
  8. Some Christians I know want to fast in solidarity with their Muslim friends – you can most definitely do that (=freedom in Christ!), however please note that fasting during Ramadan is complete with religious obligations and rules set forth by Islam. Don’t follow those rules or do something contrary to the beliefs you have in Christ Jesus. These two religions are very, very different! Make it clear why you are fasting so that they don’t get the wrong idea or so that you are not misleading them into believing something else. Be clear about who you follow, that’s all.
  9. We can enter joyfully into a fast and even share the breaking of the fast party with our Muslim friends and neighbors. Let them know that Jesus allowed Christians to fast in Matthew 6:16-17 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face.”
  10. At the end of Ramadan, all Muslims celebrate Eid — many of my fond memories as a child revolve around us celebrating Eid with so much joy! Eid is scheduled for June 25 this year.

69859_artworks-000076178737-9xpof4-originalMuslims are our neighbors, and Jesus instructed us to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mat 22:39) Pray For Muslims in Love. Invite them to your home! 

The Bible says: 15and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. ~James 5:15-17