In a year of first-evers, Muslim communities worldwide watched the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, himself a Muslim, light up 30,000 sustainable lights for Ramadan in Piccadilly Circus.

Aisha Desai, founder of the non-profit organisation responsible for the lights, Ramadan Lights UK, told The Guardian, “As a child, a trip into central London to see the festive lights was an annual treat. My sister and I would lie in the back of the car looking at the lights through the sunroof. It was magical.”

This year also marked a series of first-ever mass iftars at new venues across the United Kingdom. Iftar refers to the breaking of fast in Ramadan.

Open or mass iftars in the UK are part of the Ramadan Tent Project, a charity established in 2013 to promote an understanding of Ramadan and bring communities together.

The founder of the Ramadan Tent Project, Omar Salha, explained in worldbulletin that in its 10th anniversary this year, mass iftars were planned for London, Birmingham, Manchester and Cambridge.

For the first time, they were held at famous artistic and spiritual spaces such as the iconic Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, Manchester Cathedral and the Royal Albert Hall.

Dowshan Humzah, a director of the Ramadan Tent Project, said, “We turn strangers into friends and create a sense of community.”

Collaboration with football clubs also meant mass iftars were held for the first time at the stadiums of Chelsea, Brighton and Hove Albion, Aston Villa and Queen’s Park Rangers, and Wembley Stadium.

These iftar festivals have been around for over a decade but they continue to make news because they are welcomed and celebrated in big ways within traditionally non-Muslim countries.

Here in New Zealand, Pearl of The Islands Foundation (PIF) has been organising iftar events for 17 years. The organisation has a mission to “foster understanding and acceptance between people of diverse communities through meaningful engagement and intercultural events”.

One of their largest yearly iftars comprises over 100 guest representatives from various industries, government and religious and ethnic communities. A typical PIF iftar event includes a Māori prayer (karakia), the Muslim call to prayer (athan), a Quran recitation with translation of the Arabic text and a keynote speaker.

This year, psychologist Jonathan Black shared some coping strategies for trauma victims in response to the latest natural disasters at home and abroad: the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, and the tragedy of mass flooding in New Zealand.

The PIF iftars end with positive reflections by representatives from diverse socio-cultural and religious heritage.

“Through the power of Iftar dinners, the Pearl of the Islands Foundation has fostered intercultural dialogue, mutual understanding, and friendship since 2006,” says Yalcin Solak, PIF’s Executive Director. “By bringing diverse groups together, irrespective of ethnicity or religion, PIF promotes meaningful engagement and exchange, paving the way for a more harmonious and inclusive society.”

For some ethnic migrant Muslim communities, the mass iftar is not a new phenomenon. One example is the Keluarga Kiwi (keluarga is Malay for “family”) Incorporated Society, which has been congregating for iftars every Saturday in Ramadan since 2012, although the group was a lot smaller then and members met informally to share potluck contributions for breaking of the fasts.

Keluarga Kiwi (KK) is made up of over 320 registered members, comprising families of migrants from parts of the Malay Archipelago, namely Malaysia and Singapore. Since its incorporation in 2018, gatherings are more structured and formally managed with talks and prayer sessions built into the iftar programme.

Like other religious groups, the diasporic Asian Muslim community sees mass iftars as a way of fortifying group cohesion and strengthening religious practices through mass acts of synchronous worship.

Marina Bourgeais, former publisher and KK member, sees the mass communal iftar events as “a wonderful opportunity to strengthen ties and make new friends within the growing society.”

However, in a country where the first-ever terror attack on Muslims saw the massacre of 51 people gunned down in two places of worship in Christchurch, social cohesion is desperately needed beyond the communal level.

The mass iftar is a symbolic global movement determined to share Islam as experienced by Muslims. It presents the opportunity for accurate and fair representations of Islam, an initiative that can diminish Islamophobia and create an authentic and positive experience of Islam in arguably the most auspicious month of the Islamic calendar.

Following in the tradition of PIF and the Ramadan Tent Project in the UK, Muslim foundations could start with humble gatherings in small community halls, progressing to large venues like Auckland Showgrounds in the North Island and Dunedin’s Edgar Centre in the South.

Nationwide mass iftar events demonstrate Islamic practices of civic responsibility and social harmony, while inviting people to engage with Muslims from diverse cultural backgrounds. This may be among the first of many efforts to address social discomfort with Islam and build social cohesion.

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