Muslims invite LGBT community to break Ramadan fast
The LGBT community in Ireland has been invited to a Muslim community meal for Ramadan.
The Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council has invited LGBT individuals to their second annual community Iftar – the meal which marks the end of the daily Ramadan fast – in Dublin next Saturday.
Ramadan is the annual month in the Islamic calendar during which Muslims abstain from food, drink and sex between dawn and sunset.
The fast is performed to learn discipline, self-restraint and generosity and is seen one of the “five pillars” of Islam.
Next Saturday, Dublin’s Muslim community will break bread with the LGBT community, and members of the council hope the evening will foster dialogue and promote positivity between the two communities.
“As more than one billion Muslims worldwide celebrate Ramadan by fasting and appreciating the blessings given to us, it is important for the Irish Muslim community to reach out to our neighbours as an example of true Islamic ideals,” said Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri – chairman of the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council and Imam of the Al-Mustafa Islamic Centre mosque.
Jewish holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental – who last year celebrated his 80th birthday at the community Iftar – to speak at the event, as well as extending invitations to religious leaders of other faiths and communities.
Following the shootings in Orlando earlier this month Al-Qadri was quick to offer his condolences to the LGBT community.
“I stand with the LGBT community,” he said. “I am against the marginalisation of any group. It should not have happened.
“We are a minority ourselves, we understand what discrimination is.”
