Iftar Dinner – Breaking Fast With Our Muslim Friends

On Tuesday, May 20th leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were once again invited to participate in an Iftar Dinner at the invitation of the Multicultural Mosaic Foundation.

A few days later, leaders also participated in an Iftar Dinner at the Downtown Islamic Center at the invitation of Imam Muhammad Kolila.

Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam and Muslims fast in order to feel the pain of the poor. During Ramadan, a 30-day religious period, they fast from before sunrise to about sunset and it is not uncommon for Muslims to invite other faiths to join them in an iftar, or a meal to break the fast.

At the dinner on May 20th, President Scott gave an excellent message about fasting in our faith tradition that created unity as he spoke of our similarities with Islamic fasting.

Each table was filled with people of both our faith and the Islam faith and many spoke of meaningful conversations that were had at each table. For those who had never been to such an event, it was interesting to learn more about Ramadan and the Islamic faith tradition.

The Multicultural Mosaic Foundation and Imam Muhammad Kolila have shown over time their ongoing ability and commitment to building bridges and friendships across different faiths and these events are a testament to that important work.