This article was first published at Christianity Today, on June 22, 2017.
For most American Christians, Ramadan is a novelty; something heard of, but rarely seen. For Middle Eastern Christians, it is everywhere.
For some, it is an annoyance. The month-long fast from sunrise to sunset can make for a cranky Muslim neighbor. Productivity tends to slow. Religiosity tends to rise.
But for other believers, it is an opportunity.
“The Evangelical Church of Maadi wishes all Egyptians a generous Ramadan,” proclaimed the flowery banner hung in the southern Cairo suburb. Such signage is not uncommon (and Muslims also display Merry Christmas wishes for Christians). But saluting “all Egyptians” is a statement.
“I want our brother Muslims to feel that we are one [as Egyptians], and it will make him happy in his heart,” said pastor Naseem Fadi. “We both celebrate Ramadan.”
Beside the need to have good relations with Muslims, Fadi also emphasized his biblical obligations. “Our faith tells us to love everyone,” he said. “And when we reach out to others, we teach them about ourselves.”
Across the Middle East, Christians join in the festive spirit—often by hosting an iftar, the traditional fast-breaking dinner…
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Jayson Casper 
2 replies on “Should Christians Join Muslims in Breaking Ramadan’s Daily Fast?”
This does not only need to be seen and done in America but in the West and other non Muslim countries. As pointed out in the article Jesus calls us to Love our neighbour as ourselves. It is the only commandment he gave us.
It would be great for Americans and Europeans on the right who publicly show so much hate that theirs is the face of Chrisitianity taken as the norm, and cause so much trouble for the Christians in the Muslim world to suffer so much. Because Islam is not only their religion and faith it is also their politics and way of life, why people can not accept that Muslims are human beings who want the same as everyone else wants. It is only a small minority as in Christianity and all other religions who are radicalised and translate their sacred text in the way they do.
While in Oxford I was involved in a network, named Muhabba which is Arabic for Love. It was a network of Christians who had a love for their Muslim neighbours on a number of occasions, I joined my friends at the largest mosque in Oxford to break the fast. In addition to this I prepared meals aroiund Christmas and Easter, where Muslim friends would join Christians for a meal to celebrate the Christian feasts. Usually there would be a short talk and or a film clip which would explain the meaning of the feast to those of us following Christ. This was always met with respect and attention that you could hear a pin drop.
Now that I live in a Muslim country I regularly are invited to break the fast with my Muslim friends, I have also had the opportunity to invite Muslim friends for Christmas dinner, and having asked God what I do about saying grace before the meal, when the time came my friends were waiting patiently that I wandered why and then realised that God had answered my prayer and so we were able to pray over the food.
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Thanks for sharing, Peter. God bless your efforts.
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