A Halal Christmas

A Halal Christmas

Christmas is a good time to invite Muslim friends to visit your home. They may be curious to see your decorations and learn about what Christmas means to you. They may also want to check it is not like they've seen on TV!

One year, we had made quite a number of connections with a local mosque through having ‘Meetings for Better Understanding’. We thought it would be good to invite them all round near to Christmas. So we decorated our home, prepared halal refreshments (no alcohol and pork products). We also prepared some nice gifts for them to take home with them.

We then considered should we share a Christian message? We felt ‘no’ on this occasion, as they were being invited to our home for Christmas event and didn’t want them to be a captive audience under false pretences. So instead we literally prayed that the Lord would initiate a conversation that would be like ripples in a pond. We also prayed they would feel the Lord’s peace in our home.

When our guests arrived they brought lovely gifts for us! The cranberry and orange mulled with spices went down a treat as did the home made halal mince pies! Then after a short time one of the older Muslim men said ‘I was reading Luke’s gospel recently and I would like to ask a question’ which he did. Then he said ‘I am just throwing a stone in the pond and letting the ripples go out’! We could hardly believe what he said but he repeated ‘I am just throwing a stone in the pond and letting the ripples go out’! We had a great conversation for the rest of the evening! Meanwhile, the ladies (we practised segregation as they usually do) said, ‘It is so peaceful in your home’!

You may not be able to invite a whole group, but you could do just the same with a family or one or two individuals. Hospitality is a central part of Muslim culture and is a great way to build trust and have significant conversations that can be built on over time.

Chas from the Network

Click here for more about Christmas with Muslim friends

Sharing the Reason for the Season

Sharing the Reason for the Season

Christmas and Easter are great opportunities for us to be sharing the meaning behind our celebrations and to point our Muslim friends to consider Jesus. Far from shying away from this we can be encouraged to prayerfully consider how best to do this – knowing that our Muslim friends would expect us to be sharing if our faith is of any consequence to us.

Whether you are holding an English conversation group leading an ESOL class, a sewing, craft or cooking group with Muslim women as participants, make time to have 15 minutes of the session talking about the Christmas festival and being willing to answer questions or objections. Sometimes I have done this using a simple worksheet with pictures – as a reading exercise. Another year I bought in a nativity scene, with each character to be unwrapped from its Christmas paper and as we set it up, the story was told. If cooking together why not make Christmas treats and use them as a way to explain the reason for the joy we experience through the Good news of Jesus’ coming to us. If you do this remember to buy halal mincemeat for the mince pies so that all can enjoy the results of the baking!

Some friends I know welcome a Muslim family to their home for Christmas tree decorating every year. Others invite friends for tea and cake where the nativity scene can be handled by the children and explained by the hosts. In past times we have had window displays of either a Christmas scene or a simple, 1 sentence message of Hope/Joy/Peace facing the street and lit up so that passers-by can see.

Christmas is a time for gift – giving and so, again, an opportunity to give a well thought out gift for your Muslim friend or family. Calendars are always popular and we pray that the words printed on them will give spiritual life to those who receive them. ‘Hope’ calendars are available here in many languages. The new translation of Luke’s gospel by Duncan Peters might be suitable for some friends.

Some pointers to get you started on how you share

· We are not celebrating Jesus’ birthday but that God has come to us, in Jesus.

· Explain the importance of Jesus, God with us, to you in daily life

· Share an experience of knowing the truth of “God with us” in time of trouble

· There is a lot in the Qur’an about being moved from darkness to light. Talk about the Christmas lights, candles and glitter as echoing the light which came into the world – through the person of Jesus. Explain that through Jesus, we can we moved from darkness to light.

· Be prepared for objections about seeing Jesus as God’s son. Explaining that Jesus is known as this because he did god-like things whilst on earth such as healing, raising the dead, having power over nature, casting out evil spirits

· The ‘I am’ sayings speak volumes about Jesus’ identity and should anyone show real interest you might suggest that they study these with you - showing how Jesus fulfils the Old T prophecies.

Muslim women have thanked me for explaining the meaning of the Christmas celebration. For years they had attended their children’s nativity scenes at primary school but never before had heard the story explained. Could you help to bring understanding this year?

Miriam Williams Dec 2021

Click here for more about Christmas with Muslim friends

What Surprised the Arab Guest at the Carol Service?

What Surprised the Arab Guest at the Carol Service?

Some years ago I began working with Friends International. This organisation works in Universities in the UK seeking to make contact with overseas students with a view to sharing the good news of Jesus. My wife and I had the great delight of welcoming into our home students from many different countries – we are still in touch with some many years later but today I want to write about just one from a country in the Middle East.

He had come to the UK to study for his Ph.D. with a view to returning home to lecture at a local university. We held weekly Bible studies for men and, although a Muslim, he joined the group. He was keen to learn about what Christians really believed. I found that we had much in common and he was a frequent visitor to our home. Around Christmas time we felt that we should invite him to a carol service. It was a creative evening with a clear gospel presentation. I was interested to get his reaction afterwards but what he said greatly surprised me:-

“I expected that you would talk about killing Muslims but instead you talked about, love peace and justice.” This spoke volumes to us both regarding what he had been taught and his deepening understanding.

He is back home now but we are still in touch. We are thankful that he went home with a Bible and even invited us to his recent wedding even though Covid and distance prevented us from going. We still pray for him and believe that the Christmas invitation was far from wasted.

Ken

Click here for more about Christmas with Muslim friends

Hearing the Authentic Voice

Hearing the Authentic Voice

One of the many activities we may be looking forward to resuming as we gradually emerge from the COVID restrictions is the opportunity to travel abroad. For some of us, a visit to the library or to a local bookstore to obtain a travel guide for that region of the world is as essential a part of the preparation process as the packing of clothes, camera or suntan lotion. Not only do we want to visit an area and enjoy what it has to offer but we want to be  guided by those who know the region well and can provide historical, cultural insight into what we are seeing and experiencing. We might also be emboldened to go “off piste” , away from the ubiquitous pizza and kebab bars to try the gem of an eating place, loved by the locals, where authentic food is served.

As part of the Mahabba resources offer you will begin to see book recommendations from those giving voice to their own experience of being Muslim in Britain. There will be some books which address this directly such as the excellent and up to the minute book “They” by Sarfraz Mansoor. There will be novels which invite us into family life and the arena of close knit communities where the constant and present challenge of living with a dual identity is faced by some with creativity and by others with real struggle. Some books may speak boldly and bravely about the experience and consequences of being shame bearers in the community -  “Stained” by Abda Khan. Whilst others will give insight into the layers of barriers, both structural and personally created which prevent access  for people to really flourish. “Parwana: recipes and stories from an Afghan Kitchen” by Durkhanai Ayubi may be of particular interest just now along with other such books which include poems and recipes which give a window into expressions of hearts’ desire and the appetite for sharing love through food.   

Hearing the authentic voice, rather than the voice of the visitor or observer, whether we are on our travels or engaging with the world on our doorstep, offers us a deepening of our connection and understanding with Muslim people which, we pray, in turn, will bring a growing sense of mutual love and respect in our relationship-building.

Miriam Williams - a member of the Mahabba Network

See book recommendations here

The Contested Eid

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The Contested Eid

A column of 5000 men processing up the narrow streets was hard to miss. And in case we weren’t looking, there was sound of chanting blaring through loud speakers mounted on top of a car, not to mention a plane flying overhead trailing a banner reading ‘Muhammad a mercy to mankind.’ This was not happening in Pakistan, but on the terraced streets of a former industrial town in Lancashire.

This was my first experience of the Muslim Eid of Mawlid, the celebration of the birth of Muhammad. It comes around once a year, much as you might expect, but since the Islamic calendar is eleven days shorter than ours, the date is different each time. In 2021, it falls on 19th October. The processions are generally held on the closest convenient Sunday, Covid permitting, of course. This particular activity is the most visible part of the celebration, but special events are also held inside the mosques.

Some months later, I got to know the imam who leads this particular event and we became friends. He invited me to join him on the next Mawlid procession. I had been to events such as Iftar (the break of the fast during Ramadan) and I had attended community events in the mosque as a guest and observer. Joining in the celebration of Muhammad’s birth was a step I could not take, so I declined as politely I could. Now, one could argue that it is only a cultural event, a joyful celebration of Muslim community life and freedom of expression in this country; our MP may have seen it that way when he walked with the leaders of the procession one year, but, in all conscience, I did not feel I could.

There is another aspect to this particular Eid. It is bitterly contested within the Muslim community. It is openly denounced by the growing Salafi movement as a monstrous corruption of true Islam. Where different traditions are found side by side in the same locality, Muslims may be sharply divided over it. For some, it is a glorious expression of love for the prophet as required in the accepted saying “None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind.” For other Muslims, it is a manifestation of wicked idolatry.

For many of our Muslim friends this is a live issue. They will have an opinion about it. How should we Christians interact with them about it? If they commend it, what might we say? If they condemn it, where do we go with that? If they say it is merely culture (“you know, like Christmas”), how do we answer? Mawlid is an opportunity to talk about faith and worship; can we use it to speak of our love for and faith in Jesus, before whom God said every knee will bow?

Ted Collins

See also The Other Islam, Ted Collins, p93.

Shi'a Joy!

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Shi’a Joy!

It was just an experiment. I wanted to stretch my ‘faith muscles’. Stepping off the bus I quietly prayed: “Lord, here I am in a big city. I don’t know the area. I have never been here before - and I don’t know anyone here. Lead me to someone who will invite me to their house, and be like a ‘bunch of keys’ opening up the Muslim community to me.”

My prayer was answered in minutes! I called out to a Muslim man I saw across the street. I simply said: “Asalamu aleikum!” He asked me if I was a Muslim. “Oh no, I’m not a Muslim......but I love Muslims very much. I am a follower of Isa-al-Masih......Jesus the Messiah.” I went on to say: “I don’t bow down to idols. I worship the one true God, the God of Abraham.” At that, he took my phone number and invited me to his home. I was given a bowl of delicious lamb curry and chapatis, sweet milky tea, and a massive assortment of biscuits. He said he was a Shia Muslim, and his mosque had often been vandalised by Sunni Muslims. “They hate us!” he said, “and they tell lies about us. We don’t feel safe!” “You are safe with me!” I replied. “Jesus has taught us to love all people.”

He began to pour out his heart to me about family worries, financial worries, and lack of purpose and self-worth. I shared some encouraging verses of the Bible with him, and then he asked me to pray for him. How wonderful! What started as a bus journey into an unknown city opened up an amazing friendship for me. We keep in touch regularly - and I have even attended his daughter’s wedding as a V.I.P. guest! He invited me to his mosque, and I am now regularly in contact with others in his congregation - who also ask me for prayer! I was even given a guided tour of the mosque, and given a gift of a ‘Turbah’- the small flat stone that Shias place their foreheads upon when they prostrate in prayer. My mosque guide said: “Sometimes during the Muslim month of Muharram when we remember the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, it has been known for Turbahs to spontaneously ooze out blood.” She went on to say: “When you see the blood, your life will never be the same!”

“When you see the blood, your life will never be the same!”

That sounds like a theme for a gospel conversation! I will save that for another time.

Run to Muslims, don’t run away from them. Talk to Muslims - not merely about them. When you do this, you will find mission work brings you sheer joy. Or even better - Shia joy!

A member of the Mahabba Network

Although Shi’ite Muslims are in the minority there are some communities here in the Uk. The book ‘Heart Broken Open’ is a moving and insightful reflection from the experience of Ray Gaston, a vicar who spent 12 years in Leeds getting to know, work and dialogue with his local Shi’ite community. It offers moving and insightful reflections on what it means to walk in humility and vulnerability with people of other faith whilst at the same time having one’s words and actions shaped by scriptural reflection and Christian worship. It can be found here

For further information about Shias and Muharram see the resource My Muslim Friends at Muharram here

Fisticuffs to Forgiveness

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From Fisticuffs to Forgiveness

For several months the problem had been festering.  Yusef had been making negative comments about Ibrahim, another brother who was occasionally given opportunity to preach, judging Ibrahim to regard himself as more spiritual than others in the group. Occasionally Yusef would make pointed or hurtful remarks in his presence. 

One evening, following Bible study, something was said and Ibrahim responded by throwing a few punches. Their conflict was now public knowledge. 

Jesus teaches the need to ‘go and be reconciled with your brother’ but I had learned from previous experience that this cannot be rushed.  They first needed to individually seek God for forgiveness and grace towards the other.   

In the days that followed I spoke with both men separately.   

Yusef is slow to recognise where he has gone wrong in all of this.  He is convinced that his earlier judgment is valid – after all, Ibrahim has just proved by his behaviour that he is not a good example!  He knows that he needs to forgive his brother, yet feels he is owed an apology.  God had a work to do in his heart. 

Ibrahim is broken by his sin. He knows that hitting back is not the Jesus way.  How could he have fallen into this trap? He needs to receive God’s forgiveness and he knows that he must also extend that forgiveness to Yusef. 

We spoke about the fact that as the older, more experienced Christian he maybe needed to be the first to apologise for his behaviour.  At this, his response was ‘You are asking too much of me!’  To take the first step towards reconciliation was to put himself in the lower position ... maybe there was a degree of truth in those accusations of pride after all? 

I gently explained that I was asking nothing of him – simply pointing out what Jesus asked of us all.  

As I watched the light comes on in his heart and mind I knew that he would find strength to make that first move.  All I needed to do was sit back and pray for both men. God would do his work.  

A couple of months later I watched as these two men stood together before God, arms round each other’s shoulders, heads bowed in prayer.  

Forgiveness has been received and extended one to the other.

A member of the Mahabba Network

The Power of Ramadan and the Power of Prayer

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The Power of Ramadan and the Power of Prayer

 Dawud was a teenager who had been abandoned at birth. He had been cared for all his life by foreign missionaries in a Muslim town just south of the Sahara. He had been born lame in one leg and the missionaries had cared for him, raised him and got him medical treatment. They raised him as a Christian. He started school late and only reached high school well into his teens. Extreme variations in age in this school was not unknown. I taught there and found a woman in her thirties in what we would call Year 8.

Ramadan is the Muslim month of fasting. Muslims are required to fast from food and drink during daylight hours. The Islamic year is shorter than ours, so Ramadan comes at a different time each year. This one fell in June and it was phenomenally hot, over 40 in the shade most days. Two days into Ramadan, Dawud declared that he was a Muslim and would keep the fast. The missionaries were heartbroken. They had not seen this coming at all. Why would Dawud choose to embrace Islam at the very hardest time of year? He had not fallen out with his adoptive family. He was not under pressure from the authorities. He made a choice. 

Peer pressure was a factor, but that does not do justice to what was happening. Ramadan is a community experience. It is not necessarily enjoyable, especially the first week as the body adjusts to going without during the day and then needing to be up much more at night, but there is a huge sense of being in it together. 

I first saw Ramadan in action when I lived in Sudan. My Christian Sudanese friends told me that the Muslims all went a bit crazy in Ramadan; it was best to give them a wide berth. It was a good time to have Christian conferences and training days but not a good time to reach out. I knew from books what it was in theory, but now I saw it in practice. It is like an annual renewal event. Muslims who were backsliding and getting into bad habits, made extra effort. Those who were middle of the road tried harder. Those who were zealous became more zealous still. That sense of everyone pulling together is a major element. Dawud wanted to belong so much, he went without water all day in the blazing heat. 

I found that Christian missionaries in my new location had much the same reaction as my Christian friends in Sudan. Ramadan was a time to back off. As a team we discussed it and decided to commit to praying months in advance that Ramadan would not slow the progress of the gospel. As the time got closer, we realised our prayer was too timid. We started praying that Ramadan would serve the gospel. That year we saw a huge difference – more interest, more openness and more responsiveness than usual. That was 1988, which I think I am right in saying was also the first year that the 30 Days of Prayer Booklet started.  

Ramadan occurs every year, but at a different time, as it follows the lunar calendar. Find out when it starts this year. Does it have the same power in the UK? The question is not a simple one to answer. Some British Muslims really look forward to it as a very sweet time of year, others dread it and many are somewhere in between. Every Muslim household is affected as food and sleep times are changed. People know what they should be doing even if they are not. The sense of community is there, but often people find themselves in work environments that are not conducive to fasting. It is a very tough time for converts who are living with Muslim family. For those who feel a deep need to draw near to God, it is a time of seeking. We should be praying for these folk that God surprises them. For people who go through Ramadan reluctantly, breaking the fast and trying not to get caught, let us pray that their dissatisfaction leads to them to be open to other ways. Let’s pray too for believers caught in the tensions of the month. 

If we know any Muslims as neighbours or colleagues, we should not hesitate to take an interest, to ask them how it is going and to listen sympathetically. We can tell them that we are praying that God will touch them, give them his peace and to bless them in greater measure.

Ted from the Mahabba Network

Ramadan: A Time of Opportunity

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Ramadan - a time of opportunity

The Islamic month of Ramadan is a time of opportunity. It is a great time to start conversations with Muslim friends and colleagues. Find out when Ramadan starts this year.

What is Ramadan? It is the special month of fasting. All adult Muslims are expected to fast during daylight hours from all food and drink. And from smoking too. This means that your whole day is re-organised. You get up well before dawn to eat. The usual meal times through the day are cancelled. After sunset, families and mosque communities eat together, enjoying a renewed sense of solidarity. That is the key to its power.

How do ordinary Muslim people feel about Ramadan? That is a great question. Some look forward to it, especially the very devout. Some dread it, especially those who are not really practicing. They may feel conflicted as they negotiate their way through the month avoiding giving offense or getting caught. For many, it is just a tradition, something that you do because you’ve always done it, with its good points and its bad points.

How do Muslims we know feel about it? It’s a great question to ask them – so long as we can ask it in the right way, as friend who is genuinely curious wanting to understand, not as someone looking to find fault. Another great question is about the benefits people are supposed to get from it, a much better question than simply “why?”

Of course, to make this a conversation, we need to be ready to respond to their questions to us. Do we fast? What traditions do we follow? What does our faith mean to us?

Yes, it’s a time of opportunity, but is it an opportunity we will take?

Ted from the Mahabba Network