Latest News

Australian Catholic University in conjunction with the Australian Intercultural Society hosted an Iftar 'breaking of the fast' dinner to celebrate one of the daily feasts Muslims enjoy, at the end of each fasting day, during Ramadhan. Attended by close to a hundred guests, half of whom were Muslims and the others mainly Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus, the dinner held on Monday 22 July 2013, was the university's way of expressing solidarity with the Islamic and wider inter-faith community, in a celebration of its commitment to inter-religious dialogue, respect and mutual understanding

This ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Ramadhan, is to Muslims what Lent is to Christians. The uniqueness, however, is that the Muslim fast is from dawn to dusk and entails not only fasting from all foods but from all drinks as well. 

The fast is as much a spiritual exercise of self-restrain as it is a remembrance of one’s blessings.  It is a time to cleanse the body and soul from impurities and re-focus on one's self on the worship of God. Therefore, Ramadhan serves as a ‘spiritual detox’ where Muslims are called upon to re-evaluate their lives in light of worship, patience, forgiveness, compassion and charity.

At the end of each fasting day Muslims break their fast with the Maghrib sunset prayers which on 22 July at ACU was prefaced by the adhan or call to prayer recited by Imam Abdullah Hawari of the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque. For the guests who were hearing the adhan for the first time, a simultaneous translation of its meaning helped in appreciating how this call to prayer, which happens five times daily, serves to punctuate the day with remembrance of God. Following the tradition of Prophet Muhammad, Muslims break their fast with dates which, as we know, contain high levels of natural sugars which are converted into energy very quickly.

Traditionally, iftar dinners are held in the mosques or community centers and meant as occasions for Muslims to share their food with one another, especially the less fortunate. In some Muslim-majority countries it is not surprising to see strangers on the streets being invited to join home-iftars. Aside from enabling friendships to be built and nurtured, especially across religious lines, iftars are also occasions for guests who are not Muslims to learn more about the Islamic faith and vice versa. This opportunity for interfaith dialogue was emphasised at the ACU-iftar by its PhD student Hakan Coruh who offered a Muslim reflection on the meaning of Ramadhan.

Biblical scholar Professor Francis Moloney, SDB contributed to the dialogue by offering thoughts on fasting from the Christian’s perspective. Pointing to the annual Jewish celebration of the Day of Atonement as the only day of fasting prescribed by Jewish law, Moloney then posited that Jesus’ unique contribution was in questioning the need for fasting (Mark 2:19). The practice returned to the post-Jesus Christian community as Mark also records Jesus saying that “The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day” (Mark 2:20).

Aside from the dialogical reflections, guests at the ACU-iftar also witnessed the spiritual practice of the recitation of the Qur’an. As Ramadhan is the month the Prophet of Islam first received God’s revelation, Muslims make it a point to read and reflect upon the Holy Qur’an during this period. Imam Hawari’s choice of reciting Sura al-Imran (chapter on the family of the father of Mary) helped the Christian guests appreciate the Qur’anic recitation as it relates to the Annunciation. By way of comparison, the mother of Jesus is mentioned by name in the Qur’an more often than in the Bible. The highlight of the evening was when Abdul Barr and Mohammed Asury of the Sufi Path Group provided a glimpse of the mystical practice of the whirling dervish dance, a form of physically active meditation or prayer dedicated to the remembrance of God.

The friendly faces, genuine smiles and diverse conversations that kept guests warm throughout the dinner program came to a conclusion with remarks from the Executive Dean of ACU’s Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, Professor Anne Hunt, who reminded us that in today's world “to be religious means to live inter-religiously.” And that simply means we “need to keep listening to and learning from one another.”

---------------------------------------------------------
Dr Edmund Chia, Co-director, and Mr Fatih Erol Tuncer, Project Officer, for the Centre for Inter-religious Dialogue at Australian Catholic University.