There are few occasions where different religious festivals fall on the same day and give people from different faiths the chance to practice tolerance together. The same happened this year with Muslims and the Christian community, where they came together to celebrate the Lent season (Christian fasting month) and Ramazan.
On this occasion, Rawadari Tehreek, a movement that works for peace and interfaith harmony, arranged a special Iftar where both communities came together and broke their fasts.
Rawadari Tehreek Chairman Samson Salamat, while speaking to Minute Mirror said, “We started this movement voluntarily after the Army Public School incident [2014] to create awareness about unity and ending extremism. Now we have almost 50,000 registered volunteers around the country.”
While explaining the difference between Ramazan and Lent season, he said that the Lent season lasts for forty days whereas Ramazan has twenty-nine or sometimes thirty days. Lent season ends on Easter which is on April 17 this year.
“We follow the calendar of Christ, according to which our fasting month lasts for forty days. It starts on a Wednesday that is called Ash-Wednesday. On this day, every Christian puts ash on their forehead, symbolically presenting the idea that every human being has to turn into ash one day. And after forty days we celebrate our Eid which is called Easter and it falls on Sunday. Before that we also celebrate Good Friday and Palm Sunday. All these religious events have their individual significance,” said Salamat.
The theme of this year’s Iftar was to create political tolerance amongst the masses. Molana Ghulam Abbas Sherazi, Hafiz Muhammad Hussain Golrawi, Prof. Ashok Kumar and many others attended the Iftar and spoke on the event.
Along with Muslims and Christians, some Hindu Families also participated in the Iftar and enjoyed the religious culture.
Press Information Secretary Iftikhar Rasool, while speaking at the event, said, “This year is full of blessings as this is the first time, after the inauguration of our movement, that Ramazan and Lent season have coincided with each other. Now our society, along with religious peace, needs to learn about political tolerance. The months of fasting teach us how to control and protect ourselves from negativity and bad actions. We should follow these protocols throughout the year as for us, Pakistan is first.”
Muslims fast from the prayer of Fajr, the start of the day, and then break their fast after the Maghrib prayer, which occurs when the sun sets. Christians have to fast for twenty-four hours. They take only one meal in the evening. They have to fast through the forty days, except for Sundays.
Pictures by author
