During the Hajj, Muslims spend several days circling the black cube called the Kabaa and performing other rituals. They earnestly seek Allah’s favor and desire to grow closer to God.

Something else Muslims seek on the Hajj — dreams and visions.

In Western culture, dreams and visions are not as revered as they are in the East. Especially in Muslim contexts, dreams and visions are highly sought.

(Photo courtesy of Prayercast)

Perry LaHaie with Frontiers USA explains, “Muhammad is said to have had visions when he received the Quran. So, in the tradition of their prophet, they want to have a dream. They want to have a vision. They want to hear from God.”

However, some Muslims like Yusef end up having a very different dream from what they thought — and completely changes their life.

In LaHaie’s words, “All his life, Yusef, a Muslim in Asia wanted to see the Prophet Muhammad in a dream. This was his longing. One night he had that dream but he was very troubled by it.

“In his dream, Muhammad was kneeling before Jesus, and Jesus was on a throne.

LaHaie says, “[Yusef] was really troubled and perplexed by this. Why would Muhammad, the greatest prophet, be kneeling before the Prophet Jesus?”

Often, when Muslims ask their Imams about these dreams of Jesus, their Imams dismiss the dreams as satanic. “But Yusef just was convinced that it wasn’t a satanic dream.”

(Photo courtesy of Frontiers USA)

Yusef had the same dream the following night. “Jesus is on the throne. Muhammad is kneeling before him. But in this dream, Jesus takes a hold of [Yusef], lifts him up into the air, and they rise up over Yusef’s neighborhood…. Jesus takes him several blocks away and they hover over this building and it’s a church. Inside the church, they can hear believers praying for Muslims — praying that Muslims will come to know Jesus.”

In his dream, Jesus then told Yusef to go to the church and talk to the pastor. Yusef noticed the church in the dream was close to his house, but he didn’t even know a church was there. When he went, sure enough, there was the church from his dream!

LaHaie says, “He met the pastor there. He told the pastor about the dreams he’d had and the pastor was able to share the Good News with him. Yusef decided to follow Jesus!”

Yusef fell in love with Jesus — and it all started with a dream. “Yusef describes being with Jesus like having liquid love pouring all over him and all through him.”

Christians in the Muslim world and on the mission field hear many amazing stories like Yusef’s. God is showing how much He loves Muslims by miraculously revealing Himself to them through His Son, Jesus.

(Photo courtesy of Frontiers USA)

LaHaie says the Hajj is a timely period to ask the Holy Spirit to move in the Muslim world. As Muslims seek spiritual truth on the Hajj, pray for Jesus to meet Muslims where they are in dreams and visions.

Secondly, it may seem outrageous, but there are believers from a Muslim background who are in Mecca — the heart of Islam — covertly reaching fellow Muslims with the Gospel during the Hajj.

“They are doing God’s work, even as we speak. So pray that these Muslim-background believers will win Muslims to Jesus right there in Mecca!”

You may even know some Muslims in your own neighborhood and circles. Consider using the Hajj as a conversation starter!

“A great way to just move into a conversation would be to say, ‘Hey, I understand that the Hajj is going on right now. Tell me about that! What does that mean with your faith? How does that play into your worship?’ Find out as much as you can about it. Be interested and curious and show that you respect the fact that they want to seek God,” LaHaie suggests.

“Then use that as a bridge…. Tell your story of what Jesus Christ has done for you. I think, rather than get into a debate, be curious about their faith, be genuinely interested in their faith and in them as a person, and then just be open about being a follower [of Jesus] and share your story.”

You can join what God is doing in the Muslim world at frontiersusa.org!

Header photo courtesy of Al Jazeera English via Flickr: https://goo.gl/9wbRyT

(Photo courtesy of FMI)

However, since word got out about re-examining the blasphemy law, Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs, Sardar Muhammad Yousuf, released a statement refuting the rumor.

Brother Ray with Voice of the Martyrs, Canada explains, “He said they have turned down all the news regarding the change in the blasphemy law. Various news agencies had been circulating on social media and news reports that were released that the government is likely to change the existing blasphemy law. [Yousef] said, ‘We have no plan to diversify or modify the blasphemy law.’ He said, ‘The present democratic government is fully determined and affirms to implement the existing law in true spirit. It has no concoction to make any change in the blasphemy law.’”

The blasphemy law has led to the imprisonment of many Pakistani Christians and religious minorities. Anyone who is accused of insulting Islam faces a potential death sentence.

Asia Bibi is still imprisoned in Pakistan on blasphemy charges. (Photo courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs, Canada)

“Over the years, we’ve worked with several blasphemy cases in the country and, without a doubt, Christians have really been abused by this law. We have seen many fine believers who have been thrown in jail. Asia Bibi, probably one of the most highlighted cases, in the last seven years she’s been in prison,” says Brother Ray.

“Also, there are countless others we have worked with over the years that, because Muslims are jealous because they’re being blessed in their businesses or things like this, they would take a page of the Koran or verses of the Koran, they would burn it and throw it in front of their shop, and then accuse these people of blasphemy. Then while these business owners were going through months and months (if not years) of court cases, the Muslims would take over their businesses and shut them down, take their properties, all kinds of devious things they have done because of the situation with the blasphemy law.”

Although there have been several abuses of the blasphemy law, Brother Ray says there are Pakistani Muslims who recognize the abuses and oppose it.

“We have to be careful when we talk about the Islamic community around the world. One of the things VOM is careful about is we don’t condemn all of the Muslims and call them all radical people. There are Islamic elements that are using this law against Christians, but then there are other Islamic leaders that really have stood up for the Christians who have been abused by the blasphemy law. One case in point is Shahbaz Bhatti a few years ago. He stood up for the Christian community and was actually friends with Muslims that were standing against this harsh law, and he was shot to death for it. Other Muslim judges and judicial people who have stood up for such cases, they have also found themselves either dead or their lives were threatened.”

If you feel moved to pray for the persecuted Church in Pakistan and encourage them, here are a few ways you can do that.

(Photo courtesy of FMI)

First, Brother Ray offers these prayer requests: “Pray for [Pakistani believers] that they would be wise in the way they interact with their Muslim communities, because if they are caught in a false blasphemy case, it has great ramifications on their families, their churches, and their businesses.”

And for Pakistani Christians suffering in prison, he asks, “I would like to remind our listeners of the verse Hebrews 13:3 to remember those who are in prison as though bound with them. When we take those prisoners who are like Asia Bibi — she’s been in prison now for seven years — to remember like if you were with her in prison, that if you were sitting there day after day, week after week, year after year…just pray as though you were there with her.”

You can also click here to check out persecution and prayer alerts with Voice of the Martyrs, Canada to stay up to date on the persecuted Church around the world.

Finally, if you’d like to give generously to encourage persecuted believers, “there are programs like the Action Pack Program that help bring monetary aid, food, and clothing and help like this to the churches in these countries that have been affected by the blasphemy laws and the discriminatory laws that are there.”