Tameside’s First Interfaith Iftar Celebrates Faith, Friendship and Understanding
Speakers from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu traditions shared the spiritual meaning of fasting in their faith communities, reflecting on Lent and Ramadan, and on the wider call to prayer, compassion and service.
Tameside’s first Interfaith Iftar brought together civic leaders, faith representatives and local residents at Dukinfield Town Hall for an evening of hospitality, reflection and shared understanding.
Organised by Cllr Naila Sharif, with support from partners including Faiths United Tameside, Tameside Equalities Together, Mustafia Sharif Charity and Khushamdid Women Organisation, the gathering marked a significant moment in strengthening interfaith relationships across the borough.
Speakers from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu traditions shared the spiritual meaning of fasting in their faith communities, reflecting on Lent and Ramadan, and on the wider call to prayer, compassion and service. Mother Denise Owen presented a reflection prepared by the Revd. A. Daniel Ramble, Area Dean of Oldham & Ashton, which included the line, “The fast is given for love, and love is proved at table.” His reflection also offered a clear local challenge: “If our fasting does not enlarge our compassion for such neighbours, then it has failed of its purpose.”
The evening also highlighted the re-launch of Faiths United Tameside, encouraging renewed partnership between churches, mosques, mandirs and other faith communities.
The event was a warm and hopeful witness to Tameside at its best: diverse, generous and united in the common good. As the reflection concluded, “May this shared table make peace believable: difference without fear, devotion expressed as mercy, and a community where nobody is left hungry.”
A copy of the reflection by the Revd. A. Daniel Ramble is included below
“As former Archbishop Rowan Williams once said – and I quote – “Interfaith interaction shows us what someone else’s face looks like when turned to the God they believe in.”
“Friends, those words seem singularly apt for this evening. Because here we are – at Dukinfield Town Hall in Tameside – not to win an argument (and thank God, because most of us have come for the food), but to recognise one another’s devotion. Thank you to Faiths United Tameside, to the civic leaders including the Civic Mayor of Tameside, and especially to Cllr Naila Sharif and the Reverend Jean Hurlston for convening this warm, neighbourly space.
“Let us confess a truth our traditions know well: the fast is given for love, and love is proved at table. In Islam, the fast of Ramadan is not a fitness plan – though I suspect many of us have tried to turn it into one at some point. It is ‘ibadah – worship – aimed at taqwa, a deep God-consciousness. You step back from what is lawful to remember the Law-Giver; you quiet the nafs so mercy can speak louder; you learn sabr (patient steadfastness) and shukr (gratitude). And then you break the fast – often with dates and water – not as indulgence, but as barakah: blessing that becomes real when it is shared.
“Christians come to Lent with a very similar sincerity. We fast to “make room”: for prayer, for truth-telling, for re-ordering desire. We might not always manage it with elegance – Anglicans, after all, can sometimes fast from chocolate and then compensate heroically in biscuits – but the aim is serious: the heart becoming free. Our repentance has an echo of tawbah – turning back. Our almsgiving echoes zakat and sadaqah – love becoming practical. And the goal is never spiritual bragging; it is humility: the courage to be present without controlling, to speak without dominating, to listen without fear, and to let God change us.
“The Christian practice of Fasting is one, though its expressions vary: in Anglican life fasting is held with prayer and responsibility toward the common good; in Catholic devotion it belongs to the Church’s common pilgrimage toward Easter; Orthodox Christians practise fasting as a communal medicine for the soul; and in charismatic spirituality it is often joined with the urgency, du‘a-like prayer for guidance and renewal. The heart’s intention is one: to set aside the lesser goods for a season, that we might draw more closely to the Highest Good.
“And it must be received in the place where we all belong together. In Tameside, there are those who worry about the next bill, individuals who are lonely, and carers who are simply worn.
“If our fasting does not enlarge our compassion for such neighbours, then it has failed of its purpose. The discipline of fasting awakens us to recognise those who hunger not by choice, and it summons us to turn self-denial into generosity, justice, freedom and neighbourly love.
“Even creation is included: Islam warns against israf – waste; Christians speak of stewardship.
“So, may our fasting teach us grateful sufficiency – and may this shared table make peace believable: difference without fear, devotion expressed as mercy, and a community where nobody is left hungry.
“Thank you once again. With prayers and best wishes for a holy Lent and a blessed Ramadan.
“Your Brother in īmān (Your brother in Faith)
The Revd. Daniel Ramble