Interfaith Iftar Evening at the ICC:
The Message of Love, Mercy and Solidarity
Dr. Mozammel Haque
An
Interfaith Iftar and Dinner Evening was organised by the Islamic Cultural
Centre, London, held at the Conference Library Hall of the Centre, in the evening
of Tuesday, the 20th of June 2017. The evening party was attended by
more than 130 representatives from 12 faith and religious communities, besides
the representatives from various faiths, the Metropolitan Police, local Member
of Parliament Karen Buck, MP and community leaders. The diplomatic delegation
was represented by Ambassador Dato Aminuddin Ihsan, Ambassador of Brunei
Darussalam in London, Mr. Abdulmomen bin Mohammed Sharaf, Deputy Head of
Mission at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia and representatives of the Embassy of
Indonesia, Turkey and Pakistan.
The
Iftar Evening was started with the recitation from of the verses of the Holy
Qur’an by Sheikh Khalifa, head Imam of the centre followed by Dr. Ahmed
al-Dubayan, the Director General of the Islamic Cultural Centre who welcomed
the guests.
Welcome
address by Dr. Ahmed al-Dubayan
Dr. Ahmed al-Dubayan expressed his happiness
to see everyone again. He enquired Why we have arranged this event today? And
answered promptly that this event was arranged well before all the sad
incidents which have recently occurred and we insisted not to change the date
of this event as it’s better to meet in the hard days. He said, “We planned this day today before all these incidents what
happened have not happened at that time. And we kept it as it was; and decided
not to change it. Because we would like to meet more in the hard days inviting
you today to share with us this fasting month of Ramadan, to know something
about us; about our fasting month of Ramadan for those who do not know.”
“To share good times together; in the Arabic tradition; the
Arabs say when you share someone with food and drinks that means that you are
friends forever. We are friends, close friends and I hope this friendship will
really be ever lasting and will remain long run always,” said Dr. al-Dubayan.
Ramadan
the Month of Mercy and Solidarity
Dr. Al-Dubayan
said, “Ramadan is the month of mercy, it is the month
of solidarity with other people. Fasting is a kind of worship. The Qur’an tells
us the fasting was also a charity in other faiths before. We fast by the orders
of Allah and also at the same time to remember those who are poor and do not
have enough food to feed themselves. Ramadan is the month when every Muslim
must look after their parents, spouse, children and neighbours.”
Ramadan the Month of Generosity
He continued, “Ramadan is the month of generosity and being
generous. Every Muslim is asked to be more generous than before. Being generous
is one of the good manners and behaviours in Islam. And the Qur’an and the Tradition
of the Prophet (peace be upon him) has praised about this a lot. In Ramadan it
is more confirmed and be precise; come together and share all this this evening
together.”
This evening for sharing love, mercy and solidarity
Dr. al-Dubayan pointed out that today we have come together
to share the meaning of love, mercy and solidarity with each other. He said, “This
evening is the evening of love, mercy and solidarity and I am sure that there
are not only in Islam but there are also in all other religions. All those
representatives of other faiths are with us in this evening of today know that
these are in their faiths.”
He remembered all the sad incidents which occurred in the
United Kingdom in the past few months including Manchester Arena, London
Bridge, Finsbury Park Mosque and the Grenfell Tower and stressed that these incidents
clearly showed how much we need to work together and that the message must be
delivered by all the faith groups to the wider society who are ignorant of
their own faiths and also to those who mislead innocent people.
Sad and terrible days last few weeks
“Lot of problems come here. The problems always come from
the followers themselves. They do not practice the teachings in their daily
lives. We have terrible days in the last two weeks or three weeks from one
incident to another: from the terror attack on the London Bridge, from the
awful attack in Manchester and then again back to London; then the fire on the Grenfell
Tower which is also regretful incident and then recently the terror attack on
the Finsbury Park Mosque. That shows really how much we need to work together;
that shows how much we need the massage from the faith groups to be delivered to
the wider society; that shows how much really people are ignorant of their own
faiths. And that shows how much we really need to deliver the message to those
who misleads innocent people from the right path,” said Dr. Al-Dubayan.
Dr. al-Dubayan mentioned the sign of
Sharing many things in common
Dr. al-Dubayan mentioned that coming together today at the
Islamic Cultural Centre would be a sign for us all that we can share together,
live together and like each other. This message should be spread among the
younger generation. He said, “Today I would like it to be a sign for all of us
that we can share together; we can live together; we can like each other; we
have many things in common; we can be friends; we can be neighbours; we can be
colleagues also; we can live together; And this is the massage I wish really
every leader and every faith here today and those who are not with us here
today try to spread the message among the younger generation. The young
generation must understand faith in the right way.”
Need to spread the true meaning of
Peace and solidarity to young generation
It is highly important to reach out to the young generation
and spread the true meaning of peace and solidarity. Dr. al-Dubayan said, “Can
we return back those manners and those values that we share all together. This
is actually the message that we should really bring together. I want the new
generation to see this.”
“The young generation must understand faith in the right
way. We from all the faiths and backgrounds have gathered here to celebrate
peace and solidarity and this indeed is a great example that we can live
together peacefully. We really hope InshaAllah that this may bring some
positive change in the younger generation and that would be able to do
something better for the society,” Dr. al-Dubayan said and added, “Role of
organisations around us in the society - the faith organisations, the religious
organisations - is really badly needed now more than any time before.”
Advanced technology and its impact
Dr. al-Dubayan pointed out the advanced technology cannot
be controlled and due to many false information in the media the young
generation are not able to identify reliable sources of information and sadly
many of them get carried away by the false information. He said, “Evil is
everywhere. Now with the advanced technology you cannot control the flow of
information; it is going everywhere in every house, every room, in every head
of young generation. The problem is: young generation cannot distinguish or
know exactly what sources are reliable; they just read something; and they
think it is true. Very good example of that is what happened in the fire in the
Grenfell Tower a few days ago last week; lots of rumours and really fake news
spread in the social media and again the attack in the face book spread over
and over. This is for this generation is a source of information, regardless
whether it is a reliable source or not.”
Islamophobia
Dr. al-Dubayan also mentioned about Islamophobia. He said,
“Islamophobia will do exactly what anti-Semitism did once 70 years ago and we
all know the story. We don’t want actually Europe and specially this lovely
country where Muslims have more rights and succeed more than any other country.
We don’t want in this country and in Europe face what we call may be the
Islamic questions like the 19th century what they call that time the
Jewish questions. Something dangerous. And things coming down like a drop of
water if somebody does not speak up really this; this drop of water becomes the
one day and it will take us all away.”
Religious organisations responsibility to bring
back reliable sources to the young generation
Our responsibility as a religious organisation is to work
together with the authorities try to bring things back to the reliable sources
and try to spread the real message of peace.
Dr. Al-Dubayan concluded his speech with a hope that this
gathering may bring love, mercy, good relation and good intention from the
Islamic Cultural Centre to everyone present and to show what Islam truly says.
He said, “I hope this gathering today bring us the meaning of love, mercy and
good relations, good intentions from our hearts to all of you. And to show you
a model about what Islam says about other people. And I belief your presence
here with us today is one of the good examples and evidence that we have.”
Finally, he thanked all the respected guests for attending
and honouring the Islamic Cultural Centre with their presence.
Member of Parliament for Westminster
North, Karen Buck, MP
Member of Parliament for Westminster North, Karen Buck, MP,
started by addressing the gathering saying “Assalamualaikum good evening. I
have seen many honoured guests. I would be very brief. We want to hear warm
messages of support from everyone gathered here this evening. I want to say how
proud and grateful I am for the works of the Regents Park Islamic Cultural
Centre and for Dr. Dubayan and for bringing us together this evening and we see
representatives here from mosques, temples, churches synagogues. They are the visible
sign of their communities that can be reached out to each other and we shall
also see many voluntary organisations and institutions of civil societies and
police representatives here.”
Speaking about the month of Ramadan, MP Buck said, “As Dr.
Dubayan said it is the holy month of Ramadan to renew our commitment; and to
reach out to each other to get to know each other and to continue a dialogue
that is even more important in hard times than it is in normal times.”
“The main goal of our meeting is that we believe in God and
that religion has great value in our daily lives and that spiritual values are
important to all,” said Karen Buck, MP.
Karen Buck MP also pointed out that the United Kingdom had
witnessed a number of sad events recently, but said that she was very happy
that the community stood together in a cohesive and solidarity and that it was
not and would not be divided. She also mentioned the incredible courage and
incredible unity of human kind in these last few weeks. She said, “just
returning from the horror in Grenfell Tower in the constituency I used to
represent I know well they have been coming together from every faith community,
from every corner of the civil society, gathering donations, organising fund
raisers, putting money out, reaching out, giving support to those affected and
many many young people quite spontaneously wanted to be involved in helping and
that is absolutely an wonderful thing to see and something we want to
continue.”
Karen Buck also reiterated that “the messages of love, hope
and unity that we hear tonight and that would bridge not just between faiths
but also between many faith communities and of no faith, whether they are of
the institutions or individuals. But I think also as a bigger challenge and a
bigger task that we need to recommend ourselves too.”
“The message of love and unity we all will be celebrating
tonight,” Karen Buck MP. said.
She also thanked the Islamic Cultural Centre and its
Director General Dr. Ahmed al-Dubayan for their efforts and services to
strengthen relations between Muslims and other religions in Britain.
Chief Superintendent David Stringer
of the Metropolitan Police
Chief Superintendent David Stringer of the Metropolitan
Police said that Islam is a religion of tolerance, co-existence and cooperation,
and those mosques and religious centres bear responsibility for portraying this
true and true message of Muslims and society. He also stressed that the police
stand in the service of all religions, called on the importance of dialogue
between religions to remove the misconceptions and fear of the other in society
and this in turn will reduce the crimes of hatred against the other.
Talking about the tragic incidents took place in the United
Kingdom, Stringer said, “It’s a difficult time; it’s a difficult time for
London; difficult time for the emergency services. What we have seen is a small
number of people seeking to divide us. What I have seen personally is a large
number of people, the vast majority of people, working together, standing
together and demonstrating visibly sometimes in some events we have to put on
like vigils, like the services of hope visibly standing together and supporting
each other. The vast majority of people of this country and the city would not
be divided and we will absolutely stand together.”
He also said, “Please maintain that stand please maintain
your vigilance. He also mentioned about the security around mosques and the
places of worship. “We are absolutely determined during this month at this time
to keep people safe. We are determined with your support to keep London safe
and to keep faith communities safe but we depend on you for community
intelligence and for help us to keep safe.”
Venerable Stephen Welch, Arch
Deacon of
Middlesex, Representing the
Bishop of London
Venerable Stephen Welch, Arch Deacon of Middlesex,
representing the Bishop of London extended all the “warmest possible greetings.”
He mentioned, “I had a little distraction in the last few days because of the
Grenfell Tower tragedy. “What I have seen in the shadow of what’s gone on there
is quite remarkable. Large numbers of people between faiths and between no
faiths just turn out to work as community in response to an enormous tragedy.”
“I think in a gathering like this one can always sense the
tangible depth of faith that is here and what can be achieved from that depth
of faiths by broader and more open and more passionate collaboration in so many
ways for the good of London,” Venerable Welch said and added, “I cannot believe
my eyes in the different way; in response the way people of all faiths and none
have had responded to the enormous challenge there and I have seen the
community and the sense of common response care experience of grief and tragedy
was beaten and mingles with hope.”
He said for us there is much to do in together; much to do
in educating those young people; rooting the young in the deepest and fertile
fruit of human society and civilisation. “Peace be to this house this evening.
May justice rein our spirit and may love be in all our hearts. Thank you very
much.” (20:15-22:16)
Gillian Merron, Chief Executive
of the Board of Deputy of
British Jews.
Gillian Merron, Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of
British Jews said, “I am here on behalf of the Jewish community across the
United Kingdom. I want to wish you all the Happy Ramadan. I want to begin with
some thoughts others have done on the awful attack on Muslims in Finsbury Park.
We utterly condemn this act of terrorism. All good faithful people all good
people should stand together in joining and rejecting hatred and violence from
wherever it comes.”
“Hatred of people because of their religion has no place in
our society,” she said and added that the divide between Muslims and Jews can
only be bridged by getting to know one another, much better. With that in mind
I look forward to making new friends this evening as I have done already. On
behalf of the Jewish community thanking you for inviting me to break fast with
you and Ramadan Mubarak.”
Father Stephen Wang
Dean of Marylebone Church
Father Stephen Wang said, “I am here as University
Chaplain. I am here as Catholic Dean of this area around Regents Park and also
on behalf of the Catholic Church and the Bishop of that people, just to share
the sentiment of those people how good it is to be together this evening.”
He talked of the commonality, friendship and commonness. “We
talk a lot as people of faiths; we share so much; we dialogue; we recognise
what we have in common; we also recognise what we don’t have in common
sometimes. And both of them are important. That underlining everything that
genuine human friendship which we believe comes from human heart. That unity
comes not from the human heart but from the gift as we say; as we believe that
the gift of unity is in those deeper values that we share,” Stephen Wang
mentioned.
Father Wang also
said, “We are standing in the middle of the crisis but without being
overwhelmed by it. And I hope and I pray meeting this evening is the testimony
of that desire in ourselves, in our communities and in our friendship together
and that comes from our love for God and love for each other.”
Pheriza Gan Kotwal , Zoroastrian
Trust Funds for Europe
Pheriza Gan Kotwal from Zoroastrian Trust Funds for Europe
first talked about the meeting of SACRED (Standing Advisory Council for
Religious Education in Schools) where she launched Zoroastrian manifesto and syllabus
this morning.
She spoke of love and peace and said, “There is no question
of preaching peace and love.” She also talked about how much we have in common.
For example, she said Muslims wear hat; in our religion, even small child of
two or three years, men women or children wear topes; so all have topes she
also showed Zoroastrian manifesto; prayer book which is Avasta in Latin or
Greek.
His Grace Bishop Angaelos Coptic Orthodox Church
Bishop Angaelos of Coptic Orthodox Church said, “It is a wonderful
time to be standing together; we do not
only gather here during the month of Ramadan; we don’t only gather in the wake
of numerous terror attacks; only a few days ago; we also meet today which is
world refugee day and it is a day that culminates quite a lot of challenges we are speaking about:
basement, marginalization, terrorism, alienation things which have regrettably
been around our world, certainly about centuries but even more tragedy past
decades when we are supposed to be in a different time, in a different
development with international agreements, statutes and treatises which
apparently safeguard our rights.”
He also mentioned, “This is time for our religious leaders
to take ownership of the space. It is time for us to increase the legitimacy of
our messages that will never ever come through the tribalism. It is only when
we are able to stand with our Muslim community or indeed in other times with
Christians, Baha’is, Yazidi’s or people of no faith at all. It is only then we
can truly find the absolute perfect space for our faith.”
“Our biggest enemy is not each other,” said Bishop Angaelos
and added, “Our biggest enemy is secularism that shows that at best we are
irrelevant and at worst we are complicit with it what are happening and for
that reason it is time – the fact is that it has happened over the centuries,
over the past decades or over the past years does not mean it must continue on
our watch. Gathering like we have today at Scotland Yard, like we had yesterday
at Finsbury Park, like we have tonight at the Islamic Cultural Centre, this is
going to speak louder than any terrorist action; but at least to be genuine.”
The Coptic Orthodox Church Bishop also said, “In this
melting pot, in this diverse community we live in, we are each other reality;
we are each other’s present; and we are certainly each other future.”
Tricia Hillas Revd Canon
St Pauls Cathedral Church.
Tricia Hillas Revd Canon of the St. Paul’s Cathedral Church
expressed her gratefulness for the kind invitation to be at the Islamic
Cultural Centre and “the warm welcome and the depth of your generous
hospitality”. She said, “In this evening, in this holy night, in this holy
month, in this holy meal, you set before us gracious hospitality.”
She also mentioned, “Hospitality of venue, hospitality of
mass wonderful food. Hospitality of time to be together and to be with you and
most of all sharing of what is important to you and of you which expresses that
deepest generosity which is of the heart.
And the hospitality of the human heart points to the merciful
hospitality of the divine heart itself. And there are few things more
significant and more holy than opening one’s doors and eating together.”
This was followed by many speeches by all representatives
of religions from Jews, Christians, Buddhists and Hindus. All thanked the
Centre and the Islamic Community and offered their condolences to the victims
of the attack in Finsbury Park London and the victims of the fire in Grenfell
Tower London and thanked the police and emergency services and the British
government for their full support and service. The representatives stressed the
importance of interfaith dialogue to promote cooperation and understanding
between religions and society and the importance of condemning terrorist
attacks that could not divide society. He thanked all the Islamic Cultural Centre
and its Trustees for the invitation and hospitality during the occasion.
