By a former worker in the Middle East — Ramadan is the Islamic month of fasting. During this month, all able Muslims are supposed to fast between sunrise and sunset. The exact times used to be measured with a white thread and black thread. In the early morning, as dawn is still breaking, when you can see the difference between a white thread and a black thread, the fasting begins. In the evening, when you can no longer tell the difference between the two threads, then the fasting ends. However, now many Muslims have an app on their smart phones to tell them when the fast starts and stops!

Fasting for Muslims means the denial of worldly pleasures, thus no smoking, no intimate relations, no food and nothing to drink, not even water. In fact, strict Muslims won’t even swallow their own saliva during the time of fasting.

So imagine my surprise, while working at a hospital in South Asia, when I walked into the storeroom and smelled delicious food at 11am! No one was at the front counter so I coughed and cleared my voice loudly. Soon, red-faced employees appeared from the back room, trying hard to cover their mouths with their hands. I asked if everything was OK, but they could not answer me because their mouths were full of food! I was surprised, and they were embarrassed, since just yesterday they had given me a lecture on the importance of fasting during Ramadan. After an awkward pause while they finished chewing, it was quickly explained to me that sick people do not have to fast, and though they were apparently well enough to come to work that day, they were sick enough not to have to keep the fast.

I have since learned that while some people are very sincere in observing the fast for the full 30 days (and even longer for more merit) for the rest of the people, their sincerity only lasts about a week or ten days. However, they like to give the impression of being a good Muslim and so they do not eat or smoke in public.

There is a theological problem here. Muslims believe that by keeping the fast properly, they are earning favor with God. So the reverse is also true: If they do not keep the fast properly, then they lose favor with God. So the very thing that is supposed to help them is actually hindering them.

This desire to earn God’s favor was further revealed to me later that year when I went to a local family’s house for dinner. During the meal I noticed that one of the family members was not eating. I asked if he was OK, and he explained that he had been unable to finish the fast during the month of Ramadan, so now he was making up the missed days. It was further explained to me that someone who is traveling, sick, or nursing a baby is exempted from fasting, but should make up the missed days at a later time.

We should remember that there is a big difference between Muslims and Christians in this respect. While Christians should want to live lives that please God, their relationship with God does not depend on their performance or correctness in following rules. God offers his grace freely to all who will believe and trust in him alone. A true Christian is a person who accepts God’s free gift and then whole-heartedly gives his or her life to Jesus and turns away from selfish thoughts and actions. It is a transformation that takes place in our hearts and minds as well as in the actions of our hands and feet.

Please pray that many Muslims would learn about and accept this grace during Ramadan. For an excellent guide on praying for Muslims during the fast, visit the 30 Days of Prayer website.