Different Cultures Meet at Fast Breaking Dinner
The fast breaking dinner for Ramadan, iftar, that Zaman Germany organized at the World Culture Center in Berlin brought people from the society of politics, sports, economy and science together.
Zaman Germany General Manager Fatih Gok made a speech at the iftar in front of a noticeable crowd of guests. He emphasized the importance of dialogue in the frame that living together has become a necessity of globalization.
The Zaman Germany Iftar, which was organized for the second time in Berlin, brought people together from different nations and religions. The guests watched in appreciation the slide show, which presented religious and cultural aspects of Ramadan and Zaman. A sama show, whirling dervishes ceremony, enraptured the audience after the dinner.
Zaman Europe Director Abdullah Aymaz noted during his speech that fasting takes place in all of the celestial religions and that this tradition was reminded to the guests through the iftar occasion.
Ramadan offers an opportunity for people with different religious and cultural backgrounds to come together as a mark of solidarity and friendship, said Aymaz, placing special emphasis on the azan, the call for prayer that was recited as part of the program.
Apart from being a guest to iftars, Christian Stroebele, a Union 90 / the Greens deputy indicated that he also hosts iftar dinners, emphasizing the importance of people from different religious and cultural backgrounds to live in peace and harmony in Germany. He might invite people to an iftar dinner at the building of the Bundestag next year with the assistance of a few deputies, said Stroebele, asserting that something like that will help Muslims consider this country (Germany) as their own. Professor Rita Sussmuth, former president of the German Bundestag sent a telegram, saying that iftar dinners will help Islam to be understood correctly and help build solidarity between the two nations.
While the former president of the Bundestag highlighted that Mavlana Jalaladdin-i Rumi's thought were centered on love and tolerance, he congratulated Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Muslim scholar with a high level of awareness, for his initiatives on tolerance-based dialogues. Some Muslims seriously object to the interpretations of Islam as violent and intolerant. They have been striving for rapprochement through dialogues between different societies, claimed Sussmuth: "In this regard, Gülen's endeavors contribute to the correct understanding of Islam. The fact that Gülen flatly objects to the idea of Islam being used for terror and violence is of great importance to global peace." Among the guests were the Greens deputy Volker Beck, Johannes Kahrs, the Social Democrats (SDP) deputy Christian Carstensen, the Christian Democrats Union (CDO) deputy Jurgen Gehb, the Free Democrats (FDP) Deputy Karl Addicks, and ambassadors from different countries.
- Created on .