Christians and Sikhs offer iftar to Muslim faithful in Lahore

More than 90 students, mainly Muslims, had dinner together with Christian and Sikh volunteers serving the meal

0
3723
The meal that breaks the fast was hosted by the Jesuit retreat and education center “Loyola Hall”. More than 90 students, mainly Muslims, had dinner together. Christian and Sikh volunteers served the meal. – Photo: AsiaNews
By Kamran Chaudhry | LAHORE | ASIANEWS

On the occasion of Ramadan, a holy month for Islam, Sikh students and Christians from Lahore offered the iftar to the faithful Muslims. Iftar, the evening meal that breaks the fast was hosted by the “Loyola Hall”, the Jesuit retreat and education center.

More than 90 university students, most of them Muslim, prayed and shared the meal with the priests of the Society of Jesus. The event was organised by the Youth Development Foundation (YDF), which also projected short documentaries on examples of coexistence and on the various places of worship present throughout the country, reports Christian news portal AsiaNews.

The Annual Interfaith Iftar Dinner – this is the name of the event – took place on 2 June. Sikh volunteers and Christian members of the foundation wanted to contribute to the inter-religious evening by serving the meal to the faithful Muslims, the report added.

Among the volunteers, there is the Sikh activist Gurjeet Singh. The 23-year-old studied at university and presided over the Sikh Foundation, which in this month of Ramadan has already offered two iftar to fellow Muslims.

While serving ladles of Biryani, a typical Asian dish made of spicy rice and chicken, he told AsiaNews: ” Many people have died of fasting amid intense heat wave and power cuts. We brought five doctors from Lahore in a medical camp at Bara Ghar village of Punjab province last month. More than 400 patients were treated and provided free medicine”.

At the Jesuit center, Dawood Ali, 20, brought five Muslim friends from his neighborhood. “They were excited at the thought – he reports – of eating together with Christians and Sikhs. It was encouraging to learn that Sikhs have a similar concept to Zakata, the compulsory Islamic tax that requires helping the poor. ”

 

[ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs in Southeast Asia and surrounding countries. We have a Facebook page, do give it a LIKE. Follow us on Twitter. Visit our website: www.asiasamachar.com]

RELATED STORY:

Singapore interfaith buka puasa by kidney support group (Asia Samachar, 9 June 2016)

 

[Fastest way to reach Asia Samachar: Facebook message or WhatsApp +6017-335-1399. Our email: editor@asiasamachar.com. For obituary announcements, click here]

NO COMMENTS