Source: Global Partners, February 10, 2025
When living in a secular, Muslim-majority country, we knew about Ramadan and realized that many observed it. However, because the city we lived in was predominantly Catholic, it seemed that it was a minor blip on the radar. Now that we live in a Muslim-majority city in North America, we can more clearly see the impact of Ramadan.
Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and is a special time to hear from Allah. The month is meant to commemorate when Mohammed first received his revelations from Allah. It is spent fasting from food, water (or any drink), smoking, sexual relations and several other things from sun-up until sundown. Once the sun goes down, many will attend a special prayer time at the mosque and then go and break their fast—first by eating dates and then feasting on other things, like various rice and meats, stuffed grape leaves, and lots of bread.
It is during this time of Ramadan that many Muslims believe that their good deeds are multiplied, their prayers are multiplied, and they will cleanse their bodies of impurities to reset [them] for Allah’s will for them. Since Islam is a works-based religion, this time is very important to store up extra “credits” with Allah.
And since Muslims can only eat during sundown, many families will stay up late and wake up early to get in extra meals before dawn. This means that people get little sleep during the month. Some of my friends are quite thankful that Ramadan is starting to fall during our winter months, compared to summer, when it doesn’t get dark until nearly 10:00 pm!
The most interesting thing is the tension between Ramadan hours and “normal life hours.” Just because someone slept three hours each night for the month of Ramadan doesn’t mean that they can skip out on school or work. And yet, many Muslim-owned businesses—particularly restaurants and cafes—shift their hours from 9:00-9:00 to 5:00-5:00. It is fascinating to see much of life shift here in our city.
See also five short prayers, one for each week of Ramadan. I plan to use them all (about six minutes total) repeatedly throughout the month. The images are beautiful, too!
The number of prayer guides for this season keeps growing. Get global guides in digital or print from Pray30Days.org. Follow the links to special editions for kids. Join a prayer campaign focused on a specific group or place. Sign up for daily video-based emails from Prayercast. You may also hear directly from organizations you support, many of which produce their own materials. See the latest from Frontiers USA.
Our friends at OneWay ministries tell the story of a Pakistan pastor whose heart changed after joining one of these prayer efforts. He set a goal with his church to share the love of Jesus with 300 Muslims in the next year. And after that, God gave them a vision to do much more. Wonderful.
