As I write it’s Mother’s Day throughout the Arab world, which means it’s Mother’s Day in Gaza. I can’t even imagine the sorrow of tens of thousands of Muslim moms who’ve lost children, husbands, parents and precious nieces and nephews since the travesty of Oct. 7th.
Surely the loss of life and livelihood devastates hope. It’s one thing to persist in pursuing a light at the end of the tunnel, but when the light has been all but snuffed out, how do you keep going?
There was another holiday in the Middle East this week: Nowruz, or Persian New Year. Although it predates Islam, with origins in Zoroastrianism, tons of Muslims enjoy this celebration of Spring. Of course this is a problem in “our way is the only way” cleric-run Iran! The Taliban frowns on it in Afghanistan too.
In case you’ve not been reading Muslim Connect for over a year, a goldfish is one of the traditional symbols of Nowruz. I encourage you to buy one (If you buy a feeder fish, you’ll give it a longer life than it might otherwise have had!), name it Nowruz and each time you feed it, pray for Persians to find the abundant life Jesus died for them to enjoy.
Finally, as you probably know, we’re almost half way through Ramadan. Rather, Muslims worldwide are. This time of daily fasting and nightly feasting means so much to our Muslim cousins.
In I Kings 8, Solomon prayed, as he dedicated the temple, that God would hear and answer the prayers of non-Jews directed toward that place. As Muslims up their prayer game during Ramadan, please join me in asking God to hear and answer their prayers for forgiveness and deliverance that “all the people of the earth will come to know and fear him.”