Ramadan is a very significant time for Muslims, where they seek the blessings of God and fast during daylight hours over its 30 days. Over the next few weeks, Sarah* will be looking at various themes present in Ramadan and exploring Christian responses.
Ramadan is the month… in which the Night of Power resides, a friend tells me.
The Night of Power (Lailat-ul-Qadr), commemorates when the first revelations of the Qur’an were given to Muhammad. No one is certain when this took place. A friend says he doesn’t know when it was, but it reportedly falls on an odd date during the last ten days of Ramadan, possibly the 27th night. Some Muslims spend what they believe to be the Night of Power praying and reading the Qur’an. Mosques broadcast hours of Qur’anic readings.
Muslims maintain that a good deed done on this night is akin to a thousand months of rewards. An act of charity done on this night is the same as if it was done repeatedly for one thousand months, or 83 years. Someone calculated that a 35-year-old who ‘caught’ each Night of Power with additional prayers and worship, would have amassed 1,660 years of credit.
A donation to charity made especially for Ramadan receives 70 times the reward. Because the precise date is unknown, some Islamic charities will collect your donation and make a contribution to charity on each of the last ten nights of Ramadan.
It is possible to ask whatever you want from Allah on the Night of Power.
God hears our prayers. In Genesis we read about Hagar, a single mother and a foreigner. She was helpless once she was ushered out of the home of her child’s father. Deserted, she sat weeping, awaiting death.
What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is…
Genesis 21:17b
Hagar’s son’s name, Ishmael, means ‘God hears’ – not only for one night of the year.
God is generous. Since He did not spare His own Son … how will He not also … graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32). Jesus speaks of God’s generosity.
May Muslims come to know God as their good Father this Ramadan.
If you’re interested in joining us for a prayer evening on the Night of Power, click here
BLOG: Part 1 – The gift of Ramadan
BLOG: Part 3 – Forgiveness?
BLOG: Part 4 – A bundle of opportunities
MISSION RESOURCES
CORE VALUES
WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO
WHAT WE BELIEVE
PLACEMENTS
HOW DO I GET THERE?
