Syed Shamshad Nasir, Missionary, USA
Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Rochester Hills, Michigan welcomed its neighbours, interfaith leaders, public officials and the community members at the Mahmood Mosque to an iftar dinner on 9 April 2022.
The 2022 interfaith iftar was held in person after a gap of two years. During the last two years, this programme was conducted virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A team of volunteers checked the guests in and provided them with a quick guide to the facility. After this, they keenly looked at the exhibition about the Holy Quran, Prophet Muhammadsa and Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya.
The local president, Maqbool Tahir Sahib along with amila members welcomed the guests.
Jamaat members offered the congregational Asr prayer while the guests observed them while seated in the prayer hall.
Secretary Umur-e-Ama, Nasir Bukhari Sahib moderated the evening programme. He welcomed the guests and provided a quick overview of the agenda for the evening. My humble self delivered the dars of the Holy Quran as part of the regular and daily activity.
After the dars, the guests were offered the opportunity to ask questions. Following the question and answer session, guests and members proceeded to the hall for the iftar. After the Maghrib prayer, dinner was served to the guests.
More than 78 external guests attended the event and showed a great deal of interest and many new contacts were made.
Many members from around the Metro Detroit area attended the Ramadan Open House. Channel 7 News covered the event and interviewed the local president, Maqbool Tahir Sahib.
The feedback from the guests is as follows:
Izzy, Kulsum, Linda and Dena said:
“Thank you so much for such a heart-warming evening. We all appreciated your hospitality and your sentiments. Especially when the world is full of strife. Thank you for all the work you do and the teachings you spread.”
April Bucknell, Esq said:
“Thank you for all the information you provided tonight. It was awesome. I will send more questions your way as I have them, and I hope we can meet again someday as I so enjoyed your knowledge of world religions.”
Dena from Jewish Synagogue Shir Tikvah said:
“Thank you for inviting us to iftar on Saturday. I had an interesting discussion with Ahmad about assimilation and we hope to continue the dialogue in May after the holiday season (Passover, Easter, Ramadan).”
