By Lianne Kolirin
The Royal Albert Hall, the British Library and Coventry Cathedral are among the many British landmarks to have hosted iftars — evening meals to break daily fasts — this Ramadan.
The aim of the overall initiative, run by the Ramadan Tent Project, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary, is “turning strangers into friends”.
For Muslims, the holy month of Ramadan is an important opportunity to come closer to the divine by fasting from sunrise to sunset as an act of worship. Typically, communities gather every evening for an iftar meal and break their fasts together.
In 2013, a group of students at SOAS University, in London, invited international students living alone in Britain to join them in breaking their fast over Ramadan. The idea was to strengthen community ties, provide a home away from home and “embody the beauty of Islam”.
The initiative soon began to grow as the events extended out to the homeless and the vulnerable and each year drew more people and attention.
More than half a million people have attended the project’s Open Iftar events since its inception, with Wembley Stadium, the Globe Theatre and the V&A Museum playing host.
Research carried out by the project showed that more than half of attendees agreed that their knowledge of Ramadan had increased as a result, and a similar proportion thought the initiative had given them a chance to meet Muslims that they would not have otherwise had.
The final iftar took place in Trafalgar Square, London, last night as Ramadan draws to a close. An estimated 1,400 people attended the event despite the pouring rain.
Aftab Ahmed, programme manager for the Aziz Foundation, the Trafalgar Square iftar’s main sponsor, said: “It was open to people from different backgrounds to come along and share a simple meal.
“We see iftars taking place all over the country. There was one in my local shopping mall last week arranged by the community and which our MP attended. Things like that are happening naturally, organically. Community leaders are having open iftars — it’s a way of trying to open a space up for everyone to be part of it.”
Breaking bread together breaks down barriers, Mr Ahmed said. “The ‘other’ goes away when you meet the other person.”
Well aware of this is Nisa-Nashim, the Jewish Muslim Women’s Network. This week, two members of the organisation shared the iftar outside Auschwitz in Poland during the five-day March of the Living, an international Holocaust education initiative.
Hifsa Iqbal-Haroon, who chairs Nisa-Nashim, and Jemma Levine, deputy director of Hope not Hate, reflected together on the harrowing experience of visiting the death camp over a hearty meal.
Ms Iqbal-Haroon said afterwards: “It has been profound breaking my fast with my supportive, caring Jewish Nisa-Nashim sister Jemma. Ramadan is a time to reflect as together we have tried to make sense of the utterly incomprehensible.”
The growing public awareness of Ramadan is good for both the Muslim community and wider British society, Mr Ahmed said. “There has been a change in the Muslim community and the wider understanding of it. It was a bit enclosed, a bit of a ghetto, but with a new generation opening up and trying to take control of our narrative. It’s time for us to say who we are and use our voice.”
Also making headlines have been the Ramadan lights that were put up in London’s West End this spring. Coventry Street, which links Leicester Square with Piccadilly, has been illuminated with 30,000 bulbs. The illuminations, similar to Christmas lights, spell out “Happy Ramadan” and were switched on last month by the mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who is Muslim.
The initiative was a result of eight months of hard work by the Aziz Foundation, Heart of London Business Alliance and Field & Lawn, which oversaw production and installation.
Financial support for the project came initially from the Aziz Foundation and other community organisations and public donations. The lights are attached to Aziz family properties on Coventry Street.
“We wanted Muslim children to grow up as part of this community,” Rahima Aziz told the Religion Media Centre.
Installing the lights in an area of London with such high footfall has had a massive impact, she said. “It’s not just a time for Muslims but a time that everyone is engaged in. It’s important that our faith communities have the same opportunities to have events that are important to us represented in the cities that we call home.”
Muslims have been coming to see the lights from all over Britain, according to Mr Ahmed, who said an agreement has been reached to install similar displays over the next two years.
“There’s a big buzz around this idea of belonging,” he added. “We go to an iconic place in London like that and we can express ourselves there. It really strengthens our identity and belonging as part of this society.”
Awareness of Ramadan extends to other areas of life, too, such as the growing range of Ramadan products in Britain’s supermarket aisles.
“The Muslim pound is strong,” Ms Aziz said. “We see it in a lot of more mainstream society now, like H&M having a Ramadan collection while in shopping centres they are talking about Eid.”
Workplaces and employers are also becoming more supportive of Muslim staff, with many stepping up with positive initiatives and flexible working practices. Some go even further, with big companies like PwC and Deloitte organising events where non-Muslim staff members are encouraged to sample the fast for themselves.
“Ramadan has been a journey over the past few years and I feel like every single year it’s improved in so many ways,” Zarin Tasnim, auditor at the accounting firm PwC who co-chairs the company’s Muslim Network, told Hyphen, a Muslim news site.
The same could be said about the celebration of Ramadan in British society more generally, according to Mr Ahmed. “There’s a big buzz around this idea of belonging,” he said. “It’s a really good positive time and there’s lots of potential there for building lots more bridges and opening up.”
