More than one million economically marginalised Muslims live in Ahmedabad, India. Often jobless or underemployed and unable to return to their villages, many live on by sheer force of will power.
It is a commonly held misconception in the region that followers of Jesus bribe downtrodden Muslims and Hindus to accept Christ in return for material benefit or social advantage. Nominal followers of Jesus number around 5%.
Unfortunately the region is also now known for its numerous problems, including cases of human trafficking, child labour, severe poverty and local political assassinations. This is Murshidabad, India, land of the Nawabs.
Most of the world's Muslims live in Asia. After Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have the world's highest Muslim populations. Islam spread to South Central and East Asia mostly through merchants and mystical Sufis.
Nashik, (also Nasik), is a medium size, fast-growing city. The river Godavari flows through the city and the temples and steps on its banks make Nashik one of the holiest places for Hindus all over the World. But many Hindus readily converted to Islam.
The evolving world of Islamic universities has become a major challenge for Christians. The mission of Islamic education is to establish Quranic values and promote Islamic rule and influence worldwide through university community life and studies.
Firozabad is still being researched for ministry purposes. No local congregation of Christians exists there at the present time. It appears that about half the population is Muslim. The remaining population is comprised of Hindus and Jains (believers in Jainism).
When we originally prayed for Zanskar in our 30-Days of Prayer for the Muslim World in 2001 it seemed that the Muslims of Zanskar were completely untouched by the Gospel. There was no known Christian witness to them. But...
Often these women are neither educated, nor able to provide their children with education. Of the estimated 60 million Muslim women in India, almost 2/3 are illiterate. In the north Indian state of Haryana, the illiteracy rate among Muslim women is a staggering 98%.
Many of Varanasi’s Muslims belong to a weaver caste called “Ansari”, or “helper” in Arabic. For generations they have passed on their craft from father to son, hand-weaving silk on room-sized, foot-powered looms.
