DALLAS (ABP) — A worldwide coalition of evangelical Christians is urging prayer for Muslims during the month of Ramadan. But the idea has met some resistance from Muslims — and even some Christians.
Ramadan, which this year began Sept. 24, is a significant time for Muslims. They spend the month fasting, praying and doing good deeds.
The Christian prayer effort is the 15th annual “30-Days of Prayer for the Muslim World,” which lasts for the duration of Ramadan. During the holiday, Christian churches and groups fast, pray and learn about “Muslim peoples of the world,” both as a form of solidarity and as an outreach tool.
According to the project's website, people participate so Muslims “may at least have an opportunity to consider God's grace revealed in Jesus Christ, and that we may live peaceably and respectfully side by side.” Major contributors to the project include Youth With a Mission, Frontiers, Evangelical Alliances of Europe, Transformations Africa, and major churches worldwide.
Some critics of the event have said it patronizes Islam and portrays Muslims as targets. Others, like Baptist seminary professor Ronald Smith, say they're not opposed to prayer and evangelism but would prefer to use different methods.
“From a Muslim point of view, it looks like targeting during a particularly holy season for Islam, and that tends to be resented,” said Smith, a professor of theology at Logsdon School of Theology at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. “I think it would be better for this kind of effort to be done at a different time and out of the public view.”
The last thing missionaries need is defensiveness from people they're trying to reach, Smith told Associated Baptist Press. And while he agrees with the motivations behind the effort, he said, it's being handled in a way that doesn't necessarily demonstrate sensitivity to Muslims.
“I think to do it in this manner…sounds crusade-ish,” he said, referring to the medieval conquests of Middle Eastern lands, during which Europeans slaughtered Muslims, Jews and others in an effort to claim the Holy Land for Christianity. The Islamic memory of resentment for the Crusades is long, and radical Islamic terrorist groups have used the term “Crusaders” to refer to Christians, Americans and Westerners in general.
Because many Muslims still suspect Christians of harboring crusading desires, Smith said, “I think some of the publicity that has come out will work against what the proponents [of the Ramadan prayers] are attempting to achieve.”
In the United States, the National Association of Evangelicals has asked its member churches to participate in the effort.
Mostafaa Carroll, a board member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he welcomes Christians' interest in his faith. He said he has worked in interfaith efforts with Christians for the last 20 years but had not heard of the Ramadan project until recently.
“There is nothing wrong with prayer whenever you can get it. I encourage it,” he told ABP. “I see the prayer as something that is good — that can help people to understand. Everything counts” when it comes to understanding Ramadan, he said.
The ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Ramadan is a season for the world's 1 billion Muslims to concentrate on their faith. During Ramadan, Muslims do not eat or drink during the day. They also abstain from smoking and sex.
Each evening after nightfall, Muslims break their fast with prayer and a meal called the iftar. The fast is resumed each morning.
Leaders of 30-Days International, organizers of the prayer program, say it is a proven tool for connecting with Muslims. The coalition also distributes a prayer booklet that details 30 specific Islamic nations or communities to help participants better understand the religion and culture. Produced in 42 languages, the 30-Days Muslim World Prayer Guide goes to participants in 149 countries.
“It is not our intention with this prayer focus to disparage Islam or Muslim sentiments in any way,” the group's website says. “We recognize that humans and the Muslim world are far too complex to simply or easily condense, explain or take lightly with a mere booklet.”
That said, CAIR's Carroll said the fasting and praying comprise a good beginning for breaking barriers between Muslim and other groups.
“It helps when people get together to try to understand each other, so definitely that project is a good start,” he said. “If they want to pray for us even in that way [to convert], that's fine if they want to do it. You can't convert anyone by force.”
Ramadan ends on Oct. 24 with the festival of Eid al-Fitr, or “Festival of Breaking the Fast.”
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