How Christians Can Reach Muslims During Ramadan

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Christianity Today

Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.3 • 622 Ratings

🗓️ 8 May 2019

⏱️ 51 minutes

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Summary

This week marked the start of Ramadan, a 30-day season of fasting and celebrating observed by millions of Muslims around the world. Some Christian communities, especially in the Middle East, have for generations learned how to respect and connect with their Muslim neighbors during this time. As more Americans convert to Islam and Muslims from other countries migrate to Europe and North America, the Western church has been slowly learning the history of this holiday and how to reach the mosque during this time. Fasting is a great way for Christians to connect with Muslims during Ramadan, says Joseph Cumming, who works with Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders and scholars around the world to promote mutual understanding and reconciliation. “Maybe you just fast one day in Ramadan to enter into that experience with them and what you find is when you do that and then you have a conversation with your Muslim friend and suddenly there's this feeling of we are in this together instead of this, ‘I'm in one community and you're in a different community and never the twain shall meet,’” said Cumming. “Actually, we're part of a single group of people having this experience together, and it can lead to beautiful spiritual conversations.” Cumming joined digital media producer Morgan Lee and editor in chief Mark Galli to discuss Christians’ complicated relationship with fasting, the origins and meaning of the season of Ramadan, and things Christians should be especially sensitive to during Ramadan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you in part by The Apologetics Guy Show, the podcast that helps you find clear answers to tough questions about Christianity.
0:11.1	Learn to explain your faith with courage and compassion.
0:14.5	Join Moody Bible Institute professor Dr. Mikhail del Rosario at Ap apologetics guy.com.
0:34.8	Today is May 8th, 2019, and you're listening to Click to Listen, where we go beyond hashtags and hot takes discuss major cultural events.
0:37.8	This week, we will be talking about the start of Ramadan.
0:53.4	I'm Morgan Lee, digital media producer here at Christianity today, and I'm joined by my co-host,
0:58.7	our editor-in-chief, Mark Alley. Hey, Mark. Hey, how are you? You impressed me again with your many interests and activities. I'm going to start calling you the jet setter.
1:05.1	You were in Paris the previous weekend, was it? And then last weekend you were in Pacific Northwest.
1:10.1	Pacific Northwest. This young woman's a world traveler.
1:13.4	Exactly. I went to Vancouver, too, so I really, you know, three countries and three weekends.
1:18.9	How exciting. All right, who's joining us today?
1:22.3	Joseph Cumming is pastor of the International Church at Yale University, and from this base.
1:27.4	He works with Muslim, Christian, and Jewish University, and from this base, he works with
1:27.9	Muslim, Christian, and Jewish leaders, and scholars around the world to promote mutual understanding
1:32.8	and reconciliation among the Abrahamic faith communities. He has advanced degrees from full of
1:39.2	theological seminary, my alma mater, and Yale University, and is completing his Ph.D. at Yale in Islamic
1:45.2	studies and Christian theology. He is an ordained Christian minister with the assemblies of God.
1:50.6	Welcome, Joseph. Oh, thanks so much for having me. I'm just a little curious. Before we begin,
1:56.0	you are now on the East Coast, but you are also on the West Coast, it looks like, when you were
2:00.3	at Fuller. What part of the country did you grow up on the West Coast, it looks like, when you were at Fuller.
2:01.4	What part of the country did you grow up in?
2:03.2	I was born and raised in New York City, but I spent the majority of my adult life in
	...

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