Spirit of giving served as main course at Dubai inter-faith iftar
CHURCH HOSTS GATHERING IN YEAR OF ZAYED TO HIGHLIGHT UAE’S RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
Christian expatriates were joined by their Muslim brothers and sisters in an interfaith gathering for iftar in Dubai to celebrate the spirit of giving, peaceful coexistence and religious tolerance in the UAE on Tuesday.
Around 200 Christians from different churches and Muslims had their iftar with the theme ‘Because We Care’, organised by the Fellowship Church in celebration of the Year of Zayed.
Dr Omar Al Muthanna, CEO of the Social Regulation and Licensing Sector at Dubai’s Community Development Authority, was present along with other senior officials.
Leaders of different churches and centres namely Father Mina Hanna from the Coptic Church; Rev Canon Andrew Thompson from the St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Abu Dhabi; Rev Timothy Heaney, senior chaplain of Christ Church; Dr Hisham Yousuf, chairman of the Evangelical Church; and Verjee Ahbar, president of the Ismaili Centre.
Now in its seventh year, the annual iftar reflects the respect the Christian community have for their Muslim friends and colleagues, Rev James Frank Burgess, senior pastor of Fellowship Church, said.
“The purpose of the annual iftar is to show the great respect we have for Dubai and Islam. We obviously have many people in our church who have friends, neighbours and co-workers that are Muslims. I think Christianity and Islam share many things and obviously Ramadan is a month that’s helpful to everyone of every faith. It gives us all an opportunity to focus on God and on helping those who are less fortunate and that’s a wonderful thing for everybody,” Rev Burgess told Gulf News.
“I believe that Jesus taught us that we are to love all people. One of his most famous stories was the story of the Good Samaritan.
I’ve travelled to 60 countries and I know of no other country in the world that is as outstanding as the UAE from the standpoint of its peace, safety and tolerance, including religious tolerance. It’s a remarkable country.”
Rev James Burgess | Senior pastor, Fellowship Church
The whole purpose of that story is to show that our neighbour is not just the person who shares our heritage or traditions. Our neighbour can be the person who is from a different heritage or culture yet still has a need. And that we are to love our neighbour as ourselves.”
Rev Burgess said the theme for this year’s iftar is to honour the UAE’s founding father, Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
“We all have such enormous admiration for Shaikh Zayed, of what a great man and statesman he was. This particular iftar is in his honour and memory,” Rev Burgess said.
During the event, Rev Thompson, author of the book Jesus of Arabia, shared how his book reflects the desire Shaikh Zayed had for Christians and Muslims to understand each other and learn from each other, which was also the aim of the iftar gathering.
“I’ve travelled to 60 countries and I know of no other country in the world that is as outstanding as the UAE from the standpoint of its peace, safety and tolerance, including religious tolerance. It’s a remarkable country,” Rev Burgess said.