Middle East (MNN) — Today is the last day of the Hajj, a five-day Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The men and women on the Hajj this year were searching for spiritual enlightenment and truth in Islam. But as the Hajj wraps up, many are going to find themselves empty and discouraged.
We have talked about how Muslims are meeting Jesus through miraculous dreams and visions. But they are also coming to know Christ as Savior through interactions with His followers.
The Church needs to pray for Muslim men and women to enter conversations with Christians after the Hajj who can tell them about Jesus.
Perry LaHaie with Frontiers USA shares how one such interaction right after the Hajj changed the life of Hassan*, a Muslim man trapped in deep depression.
“He thought if he went on the Hajj, maybe he would be healed. But on the bus ride home, [Hassan] felt even more depressed, so he talked to the bus driver. He shared his pain. The driver encouraged him to pour out his heart to Jesus.
“When he got off the bus, he sat down at a bench and he prayed to Jesus. The moment he spoke the name of Jesus, his heart was filled with joy. He started jumping for joy! He didn’t care who was watching! A few days later, he watched a film on the life of Jesus and he decided to follow Him.”
The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and considered a duty that all financially and physically capable Muslim adults must complete at least once in a lifetime. Because of the immense pressure on the Hajj in Islam, the disappointed return from the Hajj can sometimes be the first time someone questions the Islamic faith.
LaHaie says, “The prayer here would be that Muslims would be disillusioned with Islam after the Hajj and would realize and would have a hunger to seek more about the prophet that they read about in the Koran and then turn to the New Testament, the Injil. And by the prophet in the Koran, of course, I mean Jesus — ‘Isa’.”
(Photo courtesy of Frontiers USA)
Ask God to create opportunities in your own life to interact with Muslims in your community. Pray for wisdom and grace to build relationships, hear their stories, and share your faith with them. You never know when you may be speaking with a potential brother or sister in Christ.
Join what God is doing in the Muslim world at frontierusa.org!
*Hassan’s story originally shared in Jesus Film Project’s newsletter, February 2010.
