What Christians Might Learn From Muslims
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
I wish you, friend and dear reader, a blessed Lent 2026 and Ash Wednesday. Every year we return to Lent with the familiarity of a known season. We recognize the liturgical color, the readings, the ashes and the invitations to pray, fast and give more. Yet I wonder what Lent means for the spiritual life in 2026, an age filled with instant notifications, public opinions, constant AI conversations and an unpredictable future. Perhaps Christians, whose Lenten practice stretches back two thousand years, might relearn something about fasting from a community whose Ramadan follows similar rhythms.
A couple of years ago, I traveled to Nigeria to deliver a conference on the Church in Nigeria and digital technology. For the entire week, a practicing Muslim drove me around. Let us call him Ibrahim. It was the month of Ramadan.
The first day I noticed he did not drink water. The second day he did not eat. By the third day, I understood it was a deliberate devotion. He worked through chaotic traffic, remained punctual and spoke with gentle patience, all without water under the intense heat.
When I asked why he would not sip something, he simply replied, “We are still fasting.” About 10 minutes before 6 p.m., he would quietly ask, “Sir, may I have 15 minutes to pray and break the fast?”
I always agreed. He stepped aside, prayed, drank water and ate a small meal gratefully. What struck me was the order of his life. The fast determined the day. The day did not rearrange the fast.
Audacity of Ritual
Recently a report emerged in Nigeria concerning the February 2027 elections, raised by a presidential candidate from the North, a Muslim. The date falls within Ramadan. Many Islamic leaders supported his petition to the electoral commission to move the election to January because millions would be fasting and standing for hours in the heat could become a health risk. They argued that elections involve weeks of intense participation and would limit the ability of practicing Muslims to fully engage.
Interestingly, that same period also falls within Lent for Christians in a country where the Christian and Muslim populations are roughly equal. Some Christians ask why Muslims insist on accommodation. The Muslim response is simple. They describe their fasting as a serious commitment and explained that their discipline shapes public life because it also governs their private life. Election can be moved but Ramadan is beyond just Nigeria and unites them to the world beyond.
No Need to Jump Into Judgment
Some readers may ask why such requests are considered in a secular society. That question misses the point. The issue concerns how people live their faith even in civic duties. I would rather trust someone who believes in something (no matter what) than someone who claims belief yet treats it as performance.
If a person stands firmly for something, others understand where that person stands. Watching Ibrahim years earlier and hearing this debate now leads to self-examination. I remember a time when many Christians also ordered their lives around spiritual practice rather than fitting spirituality into remaining time.
The Prophet’s Call
As the prophet Joel ministered during a period when the people had rebuilt the Temple and maintained religious routines yet slowly lost interior dependence on God, he speaks to a community shaken by crisis. He addresses inward drift. They gather and pray, yet the heart requires renewal. So he proclaims, “Rend your hearts, not your garments” (Joel 2:13). His message concerns interior return.
Centuries later, the Lord in Matthew’s Gospel speaks with similar clarity. He instructs us to fast, pray and give alms, and then directs our attention to intention. He teaches that righteousness flows from sincerity before God rather than from public recognition. The focus rests on the heart beneath the practice and on the One for whom the practice is offered.
Lent orders love toward God. It forms humility and steady devotion. Watching Ibrahim pause his day for prayer reminded me that faith shapes life when it directs daily decisions. Joel calls for interior renewal. Christ teaches sincerity of heart.
Perhaps this Lent invites us to recover the interior life that once formed our practices. The world looks for Christians whose lives reflect a heart turned toward God.
Personal Goal
For me, I have some goals. This year I will focus on interior transformation, especially addressing the vices that can hide beneath righteous actions yet lack love and purity. I want to spend more time in introspection, because fasting involves more than food. What good should I increase, and what vice should I let go of? How can I know Christ more deeply and live his life more fully in the days ahead?
As an aside, I may stay off my phone most of the time as well. That will be difficult, but such a fast may help me in 2026.
Reflect
Does my spiritual practice determine the order of my day, or do I fit God into remaining time?
When I carry out my Lenten duties, do I focus more on the outward garment or the inward heart?
What would it look like for my faith to shape how I interact with the world around me?
Pray
Lord of the Lenten journey, thank you for this season of return. Teach me the discipline of the hidden place and the strength of a heart turned fully toward you. May this Lent shape my life more than my words. Amen.
Related Articles
