#WeStandTogether: CELEBRATING RAMADAN IN MANCHESTER MULTI-FAITH CENTRE

On Sunday 21st June, Faith Network for Manchester (FN4M) and the Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester hosted a multi-faith Iftar at the Manchester Multifaith Centre on Thompson Street in Manchester’s city centre. An Iftar is the meal eaten at the end of a day of fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. For the last three years I have helped to organise this Ifthar event.

We hosted over 50 guests of all faiths and backgrounds — a police inspector, barristers, teachers, imams, university chaplain, rabbis, youth workers, and our youngest being a baby….see above centre with Rabbi Ariel. Our chief guests included the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Cllr. Paul Murphy OBE, and the Lady Mayoress, the Bishop of Manchester, the Rt. Rev. David Walker, and Afzal Khan, MEP for North West England.

At the beginning of the evening, the guests were welcomed by Rev. Andy Williams of FN4N and myself as Vice Chair of FN4M, trustee of Multi-Faith and Executive member of the Muslim Jewish Forum. We were then followed by short speeches were delivered about fasting in several religions.

FASTING

The Bishop of Manchester discussed fasting in Christianity and, in particular, Lent. Mohammed Amin, Co-Chair of the Muslim Jewish Forum, discussed Ramadan fasting. Grange Williams covered fasting in the Baha’i faith. Sashi Pandey discussed fasting before weddings in the Hindu faith.

Heather Fletcher, Co-Chair of the Muslim Jewish Forum discussed the seven fasts of Judaism, and noted in her speech: “It is stated that the family that eats together stays together so tonight our ‘multi-faith family’ will eat together at the Multi-faith Centre, and hopefully stay together for a very long time to come.”

THE LORD MAYOR

We were delighted to have The Lord Mayor of Manchester, Cllr Paul Murphy, and his wife, the Lady Mayoress, join us for the Ifthar. They both enjoyed the food, and he discussed the important role of Manchester in being so welcoming to immigrants and how immigrants had enriched the city of Manchester in so many ways, stating: “My great grandfather was an economic migrant from Ireland, and worked as a peddler. Just four generations later, I am now standing here as Lord Mayor to a Manchester that is allowing immigrants to thrive

THE FEAST

The guests were treated to an extensive Asian vegetarian buffet, and a kosher buffet prepared by Jonny Wineberg of the MJF and FNM4, alongside an apple,lemon and mint drink prepared by Shahid and his Morrocan guests.The evening was marked by a great deal of social interaction as each table had a mixture of people from various religious backgrounds.