bestcurrentnews 2024 Ramadan Prayer

Islam’s Works: Shahada

Islam is a works-based religion. To go to paradise, Muslims need to adhere to all of the five pillars, and even then, their ultimate fate is up to the will of Allah.

Ramadan is only one of the five pillars of Islam. These pillars are five basic acts considered mandatory by Muslims. A list of the pillars is found in the hadith, (Sahih al-Bukhaari, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 8):

Allah’s Messenger said: Islam is based on (the following) five (principles):

  1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger.
  2. To offer the (compulsory congregational) prayers dutifully and perfectly.
  3. To pay Zakat (i.e., obligatory charity).
  4. To perform Hajj. (i.e., Pilgrimage to Mecca)
  5. To observe fast during the month of Ramadan.

The first pillar is a confession of faith called the shahada. The confession must be declared in Arabic and be said with conviction and an understanding of its meaning. The first part, “there is no god but Allah,” declares that only Allah can be worshipped, and that Allah has no partner or son. The second part declares that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. It should be noted that you do not become a Muslim by simply pronouncing the words in Arabic. The oral declaration is a reflection of belief that is held in one’s heart.

The complete “shahada” does not appear in the Qur’an. It is actually found in Sura 9:31 and in Sura 33:40. As soon as a baby is born into a Muslim family, these words are whispered into his ears, and if possible, a Muslim is encouraged to repeat the words as he is dying.

PRAYER

It is helpful for us to be reminded that they become Muslims by their works, Thank God,  Christians receive salvation through faith in Christ. 

The Islamic religion requires Muslims to pray five times a day. In an Islamic nation (and even in a few American cities), they hear the call to pray from loudspeakers at the mosque five times a day. A man 50 years old has listened to this piercing call 90,000 times. The power of repetition is deceptive. Repeating a doctrine that many times becomes ingrained in the mind and is perceived as truth. Even with all this, they still feel empty and alone! Muslims need a relationship with Jesus to fill that void. 

God says to take every thought captive to the light and obedience of Christ. Pray for Muslims that the truth of Christ will prevail over this deception.

bestcurrentnews 2023 Ramadan Prayer

God: Triunity or Tritheism

Both Islam and Christianity are monotheistic – meaning that they both believe that there is only one God. However, Muslims have difficulty understanding the Christian concept of the Trinity, and their concept of our Triune god is erroneous.

The Trinity is foundational to the Christian faith. This doctrine of the Trinity states that God is a single being who exists simultaneously and eternally as three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. In other words, the Trinity is a belief that the Godhead is not three different people but rather three different conditions of the same person. 

Islam dismisses the Christian belief in the Trinity as tritheism or a belief in three distinct gods. Muslims believe Christians worship Jesus, the Messiah, his mother Mary, and Allah (Arabic for god). The Qur’an states,” They are unbelievers who say ‘God is the Third of Three’. No god is there but the One God” (sura 5:73, Arberry). 

This passage goes on to explain that because Jesus and Mary both ate food to sustain themselves, they cannot possibly be gods like Allah. “The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a Messenger; Messengers before him passed away; his mother was a just woman; they both ate food. Behold, how We make clear the signs to them; then behold, how they perverted are!” (sura 5:75, Arberry).

The idea that Mary was considered divine by Christians and part of the Holy Trinity may result from the excessive veneration given to her by an early Christian heretical sect in Arabia known as the Collyridians, who considered Mary a goddess and offered cakes to worship her. Regardless of the source, Muhammad’s limited and defective knowledge of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity led him to mistakenly believe in a tritheism of Jesus, Mary, and Allah. Because of this mistake, the Christian belief in the Trinity is considered blasphemy in Islam. 

The Triune God of Christianity is demonstrated throughout the Bible, for instance, in the activity of redemption. The Father planned it; the Son obtained it (Ephesians 1:4-9); and the Spirit applies it. (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

PRAYER POINT:

For a Muslim, Jesus is a prophet of Islam, pointing to their final prophet, Muhammad. To believe that Jesus Christ is God is “shirk;”it is blasphemy. Because of this, ask the Lord to draw them to Himself and help them overcome this fear of believing in Him and receive the revelation that Jesus is Lord and is the Son of God.