DETROIT FAITHS SHARE RAMADAN IFTAR

Dearborn Heights, 20 Ramadan 1436/7 July 2015 (MINA) – Promoting unity among Detroit faiths, a Dearborn mosque and Synagogue hosted interfaith dinners to send a message of peace and tolerance in Michigan’s most populous city.

“We are here united, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, under the light of God,” Imam Husham Al-Husainy, of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center, told Detroit Free Press on Sunday, July 5.

“If the maple tree is able to make syrup out of the sun, than we the believers better make love and harmony and unity from the light of God.” On Islam reports as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

Imam Al-Husainy was addressing hundreds of attendants who came to Dearborn Heights mosque Wednesday, July 1, to attend the interfaith Ramadan dinner organized by local Muslims.

The Imam was one of several religious leaders, including Jewish, Christian, Sunni, and Shiite leaders, who gave speeches during the multicultural event.

“The message of our faiths is the same,” said Imam Mohammaed Elahi, leader of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights.

“We have so many commonalities, much more than our differences.

“We need to, as the Quran teaches us, to have dialogue with the entire humanity, and especially Jews and Christians, because we share so many aspects of our faith, whether it’s about God, or it’s about social issues and justice.”

A few days later, the Downtown Synagogue in Detroit hosted its first interfaith Ramadan dinner which coincide with Jewish day of fasting, Tammuz 17.

Held on Sunday, July 5, the interfaith was attended by Muslim guest speakers who shared kosher meals with their Jewish counterparts.

“In the midst of…Ramadan, there is also a Jewish fast called the 17th of Tammuz” Rabbi Dorit Edut, of the Downtown Synagogue, who attended the event in Dearborn Heights, said.

“We thought it was a perfect opportunity to hold a special joint program.”

Titled “Purpose and Meaning of Fasting in Islam and in Judaism”, the event included both Muslim and Jewish prayer services besides the kosher meals.

Ramadan is the holiest month in Islamic calendar.

In Ramadan, adult Muslims, save the sick and those traveling, abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.

Muslims dedicate their time during the holy month to be closer to Allah through prayers, self-restraint and good deeds.

It is customary for Muslims to spend part of the days during Ramadan studying the Noble Qur’an.

Many men perform i`tikaf (spiritual retreat), spending the last 10-days of the month exclusively in the mosque. The United States is home to a minority of between six to eight million Muslims.

A US survey has also revealed that the majority of Americans know very little about Muslims and their faith. (T/P002/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)