The Call of the Muezzin

The Azan.

To most non-Muslims here in Malaysia, the Islamic call to prayer is nothing more than an annoying and inconsiderate nuisance meant to inconvenience them by rousing them from sleep at five in the morning. They have little inkling as to the meaning of the Arabic words chanted by the muezzin, nor are many of them inclined to find out what they mean.

To the devout followers of Islam, however, the azan is a powerful reminder that there is One God, who in Arabic is called Allah, and Muhammad is His Messenger. They are also reminded to come and fulfil their obligation to Allah to bow down to Him in prayer five times daily.

Now during the fasting month, the influence of the Islamic religion is unavoidable as Muslims begin to deny their bodies food during daylight hours, and learn that there are many blessings from the Almighty to be grateful for.

What exactly do the muezzins proclaim five times every day, and how shall we as Christians respond?

Below, I have transliterated the Arabic words of the azan, and translated them so that non-Muslims can finally stop thinking about the call to prayer as unintelligible babblings. Here goes:

=Allahu akbar Allahu akbar= (x2)

"God is greater! God is greater!"

=ash-hadu an laa ilaha illa Allah= (x2)

"I testify that there is no god except God."

=ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasul Allah= (x2)

"I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God."

=hayya 'ala as-solah= (x2)

"Come let us perform the solat."

=hayya 'ala al-falah= (x2)

"Come to success."

=as-solatu khairu min an-naum= (x2)

"Prayer is better than sleep."

(Appropriately enough, this line is only said during the early morning azan!)

=Allahu akbar Allahu akbar=

"God is greater! God is greater!"

=laa ilaha illa Allah=

"There is no god except God."

What should we as Christians make of it all? Are Muslims to be applauded or reviled for this proclamation?

I believe the Christlike answer is "neither".

The apostle James said that faith without works is dead. If we say that we believe in One God, then good! But he went on to say that even the demons believe that - and they tremble!
(James 2:19) The only thing that separates a Muslim or Christian or Jew from devils is obedience to God, to believe His word and to do what He says.

Also, belief in God's Oneness is not very comforting when you have no assurance that He cares for you. "Sure, God is One, but what's in it for me?" How horrible it must be to live under a constant fear of God's wrath and punishment for your sins! How full of dread it must be to have to face the Judge of the Universe without any certainty that you will enter Heaven! How like hell it must be to live life afraid of God!

Oh, is there any hope for you and I to ever find rest for our souls? To no longer have to be deathly afraid of God and His Awesome Majesty? To ever have the wonderful privilege of running to God as to a Loving Father instead of slaving fearfully for Him as to a Hard Taskmaster?

Thanks be to God our Father, there is!

Jesus Christ said,

" For in this way God loved the world, that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in that Son should not perish (in hell) but have the true life that lasts forever and ever."
(John 3:16)

And the Apostle Paul, writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote:

'For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father!"

'The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.'

(Romans 8:16-17a)

Therefore, the true testimony is not given by man but by the Spirit of God, who says:

"I testify (bear witness) that you are the children of God!"

Dear reader, are you seeking rest for your soul? Then come to Jesus, for He says:

"Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

"For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

(Matthew 11:28-30)

Do you wish to know Jesus today? In Him you can find true rest.

It is no longer about what you do for God, but How Much God, Through His Son Jesus Christ, has Done for YOU! Your Creator LOVES You - yes, YOU!

Come to Him today!

In the name of 'Allah'...

"Ingatlah, hai Israel! TUHAN - dan TUHAN satu-satunya - ialah Allah kita."

(Deuteronomy 6:4)

"Allah sangat mengasihi orang di dunia ini sehingga Dia memberikan Anak-Nya yang tunggal, supaya setiap oramg yang percaya kepada Anak itu tidak binasa tetapi beroleh hidup yang sejati yang kekal."

(John 3:16)

The name of 'Allah' has caused a stir in recent days. Anger and rage from offended parties have resulted in attacks on churches, giving much publicity for the Church to enjoy.

Many Malaysian Muslims have objected to the Dec 31 declaration by the High Court that non-Muslims, specifically Catholics may refer to God as 'Allah'.

Among the reasons cited is that Muslims might be confused if they hear non-Muslims use the term.

Why has this happened? I believe it is because two religions with mutually exclusive truth claims both claim to have received the ultimate truth about the same deity, namely the God of Abraham.

Surprised? Well, so was I. When I was younger, I believed that the 'Allah' that the Muslims worship was a totally different deity than the God who revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. But I was also puzzled as to why they accepted Abraham, Moses and even Jesus as prophets. It was only after reading a little bit of Islamic literature and doing some research that I learnt something important:

The God whom Muslims mean to worship is none other than... our God!

BUT... they believe that we (Christians) have corrupted the truth of God and changed the Bible. And therefore, He sent Mohammed as His final messenger to preach Islam and to release His final book of Scripture: the Koran.

Having pointed that out, I would like to say to all Muslims who were offended that the court allowed us to use the word 'Allah' to refer to the Bible's God:

Why are you so offended if we were to say that 'Allah' is Triune and Jesus is His Son? How do you suppose we Christians feel when you claim that Jesus, our Lord and God, is NOT divine or that he was not crucified?

Your prophet, Mohammed, believed that Allah was the same God as the one described in the Bible, and that the Koran was the last in a series of Scriptures which included the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), the book of Psalms and the New Testament. The Koran itself confirms the veracity of these Scriptures from God.

And now you want us to stop referring to the God of the Bible as 'Allah'? Go ask Mohammed if he'd approve!

Also, whenever the Koran quotes statements from the lips of Jews and Christians, it quotes them as using the term 'Allah'. An example is surah 5:17.

(17) The Jews and Christians say, "We are sons of Allah and His loved ones." Say: "Why then doth He chastise you for your sins? Nay, ye are but mortals of His creating. He forgiveth whom He will, and chastiseth whom He will. Allah's is the Sovereignity of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and unto Him is the journeying.

(the Koran, surah al-Maidah verse 17)

Therefore, Mohammed's boldest and most powerful claim was that the God of Moses and Jesus had chosen him to be His final prophet. And like the Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians of his day, he called this God 'Allah'.

Today, we Malaysian Christians ask for no less a right than that which was enjoyed by the Christians whom the prophet of Islam met and debated with in his lifetime.

Sesungguhnya Tuhan Yesus Kristus ialah Anak Allah, yang disalibkan dan dibangkitkan daripada kematian. Kini, Dia duduk di sisi kanan Allah Bapa di syurga, dan menjadi satu-satunya Perantara antara Allah dan manusia. Amin.

Jesus' Birthday Present 2009: PMR results!

THANK YOU JESUS!!!

Hi everyone, it's agent Josh Leow again. I just got my PMR results today, along with all other Form 3-ers in the country. Some are rejoicing and indulging themselves after all the hard work. Others are bawling their eyeballs out in regret for not studying harder.

There is, however, a third group of just-received-PMR-results people: Those who are giving all praise and thanks to the Lord. I'm making it a point to be in this group. Are you?

Let's face it. Tomorrow's Christmas, and for many of us, the news on a simple slip of paper will affect our feelings for the rest of the holidays. But we don't have to let that happen. We can choose to respond to life's circumstances, instead of merely reacting to it. And the difference is this: reaction is based on instinct, but response is based on choice. Reactions change with the circumstances, but responses need never change.

And how shall we respond to our PMR results? Well, first we must remember that God promises us that all things will work together for our good, if we love God and are the called according to His purpose. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. He will not give us something to destroy or harm us. Even failure in exams can be used by God! (Remember Pastor Sam Phun?)

So rejoice in the LORD always, and again I say, rejoice! If your heart and soul are so crushed that you think that you cannot possibly rejoice now, then by all means disobey them! I have learnt that whenever your emotions and the Word of God clash head-on, the Word wins hands down. Although God sometimes uses our feelings to speak to us, trusting them all the time can mislead us. There have been times when I obeyed the "voice of God" in my head and it turned out to be nothing more than my own worry!

Anyway, it's Jesus' birthday tomorrow, and whether or not we got the results we expected, remember that God loved us enough to become a man. And that, my friends, is reason enough to thank God for.

Give thanks with a grateful heart

Give thanks to the Holy One

Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son.

And now, let the weak say I am strong

Let the poor say I am rich

Because of what the Lord has done for us

Give thanks.

This Christmas, let us all present our PMR results to Jesus as His birthday presents. He more than deserves all our praise and thanks. Amen.

By: Agent Josh Leow