With the Muslim prayer and fasting season of Ramadam approaching last Sunday a group of us from the Guildford Boiler Room made the short journey to a neighbouring town for a Mela which had been organised by the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking - the oldest Mosque in the United Kingdom built in 1889. The Mela was an opportunity for the Muslim community to gather and open their Mosque for a sort of ‘open day’ for anyone to visit and be given a tour by one of the community teachers. It was fascinating to see inside the workings of a large Muslim community – and also interesting to see how they wanted to represent themselves to visitors like ourselves, and their view of western ‘christians’. 

I thought I’d find the experience intellectually interesting, having gone in with an uninformed view of Muslim culture and belief structure. However, even though I did learn a lot, my overriding feeling was of sadness for these people who God loves. Those who really lived as practising Muslims essentially lived a life of religion ruled by fear. Fear that they may not reach ‘paradise’. Fear of God’s wrath. Never fully knowing if they will be saved, simply hoping their good needs and lifestyle will outweigh the bad, or that there will be mercy for them if that is not the case. For me they didn’t seem like people who lived in freedom. The evangelist in me wanted to jump up onto the highest wall and cry out ‘you need to know about GRACE! you need to know about that Jesus has already paid the price and you are assured eternal life with him!’.  Sigh.

Today is the first day of Ramadan. As a twitter user I noticed yesterday that the most common retweet for Ramadan was “Muslims do not eat or drink, from dawn to sunset. to learn patience, modesty and spirituality”. At our community prayer meeting yesterday we thanked God that we have open access to Him to learn not only these things but also much more. To learn about His love, His grace, His peace, His awesomeness, His delight, His heart…and so much more.

And I think it’s poignant that the 30 Days of Prayer Network, who have published a fantastic guide to praying for Muslims during Ramadan, have started Day 1 with “Grace and Truth: Toward Christlike Relationships with Muslims”. Grace and truth are what we have, and I am challenged to be undeniably gracious and unwaveringly truthful in Jesus when encountering Islam believers. My prayer in that during this time, Jesus will make his presence known to them, reveal that He is The Way, The Truth and The Life, and that they will experience the joy of utter freedom, grace, hope and relationship with the Father.