Joint Interfaith Iftar

filed in Community, Event, News on 11 Apr 2022

HFOF and Al-Mustafa Welfare Trust held a jointly organised Iftar on Thursday 7th April.

Thanks to the generosity of West Thames College the Joint Iftar was held in the beautiful Music Room and Winter Garden Room of Spring Grove House. About fifty people representing most of the faith communities in the borough, West London Humanists, Hounslow Council and the Police attended the meeting. Charanjit AjitSingh, Chair of Hounslow Friends of Faith and Asma Bilal of Al-Mustafa Welfare Trust were co-hosts and introduced the speakers see pictures below:

Michael Michaelides, Executive Director of Resources and Student Experience at West Thames College welcomed everyone and gave a brief introduction about the college which is a diverse community of 6,000 students. Then Rizana Latif, a founder Trustee of Al-Mustafa Welfare Trust, explained that the Ramadan fast month reminds Muslims to be ‘God conscious’ and become more responsible human beings which includes giving charity to those in need. Shafiq Rehman, a Trustee of HFOF, brought greetings from Hounslow Jamia Masjid where he is General Secretary. He said that Ramadan fasting is not just about abstaining from food and drink but about purifying the heart in order to come closer to God and that all people are united by a common humanity and must work together for justice. Maqsood Ahmed, Director of UK projects for Al-Mustafa Welfare Trust, spoke about the work of the charity. Projects in the UK include help for the homeless, distribution of unsold food to the needy and a resettlement programme for female Muslim prisoners released from Bronzefield Prison. Some of the Trust’s many international projects mentioned were cataract operations performed around the world, a specialist eye hospital in Lahore in Pakistan, provision of water bore holes and pumps in desert areas and helping to build mosques with solar panels which in many ways give help to poor communities.

At sunset the Muslims present had the opportunity to say prayers in the Banks Room and break their fast. Then everyone enjoyed a delicious plant based meal, courtesy of Al-Mustafa Trust, provided by caterers Cha Cha’z of Feltham.