Ramadan, 2009 - Iraqi Tribes

30-Days of Prayer for the Muslim World

Ramadan 2009 / 1430: August 22 - September 20

Pray for the Iraqi Tribes

Thursday, 3 September

"Loving Muslims Through Prayer"

A large percentage of Iraqi Arabs trace their ancestry back to one of several tribal confederations. Each of these groups is divided into tribes, clans, houses and extended families. There are possibly 20-30 confederations with over 100,000 people and possibly over 1,000 tribal organisations in the country.

Tribalism is central to Iraqi cultural identity. “Iraqi culture builds to a very large extent on tribal traditions. From a cultural point of view, you cannot understand Iraq without understanding the importance of tribalism.”* Tribes are grouped into federations (qabila), the clan (fukhdh), the house (beit) and the extended family (khams). A khams consists of all male-born children who share the same great-great grandfather (five generations of men in a single family). The Bible tells us that people from every tribe and tongue will one day be before the throne of God (Rev. 5:9).

Prayer Starters:

• The pain and suffering of the Iraqi people is very great. Pray for healing from the pain and a positive rebirth of Iraqi society after years of bloodshed, privations and hopelessness. See the database of the following site.
• Pray for the heads of tribes, clans, houses and enlarged families. God wants whole confederations, tribes and clans to turn to His salvation.
• Pray that many would discover new life in Christ. True lasting change and hope will only be found in the Messiah. The tribal leaders should take their notions of service, leadership and humility from Jesus. Use the list on the web-site in your prayers.
• A very high percentage of Iraqi believers have had to flee the country. Iraq has become a very dangerous country for believers.
• Show your children some of the genealogies in the Bible so they can see how important tribes are to God. (Genesis 10, Matthew 1 for example)

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