Christians Embark on 30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus

Christians will be asking God to help Muslims accept Jesus in a campaign called the ''30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus.''

Organised by evangelical groups that include Youth With A Mission, which works in about 150 countries, the National Association of Evangelicals in the United States is asking the thousands of churches and ministries it represents to participate.

The campaign was launched as Muslims began the holy month of Ramadan this weekend.

Lynn Green, international chairman of Youth With A Mission, said organisers chose Ramadan because it is a time when Muslims pray for God's acceptance and guidance, and ''we add our prayers to theirs," Green said. ''We are praying they really know God.''

Many Muslims and others consider campaigns like these offensive, and they see them as a challenge to their religion during one of its most sacred periods.

Imam Yahya Hendi, Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University, says true followers of Jesus would not pray for conversion but would instead demonstrate their faith through good works.

''Mother Teresa did not go out to pray for people to convert to Christianity,'' said Hendi, who reads part of the Gospels daily. ''She took care of the poor, and that's what made people love
Christianity."

But Jamal Badawi, an Islamic scholar and professor emeritus at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said he cannot deny Christians the right to pray for him, since he also prays that they embrace Islam.

Furthermore, Christians say they are only doing what Muslims do.
Like Christianity, Islam is a missionary faith, teaching that Muslims are following the true path and directing them to introduce others to their beliefs.