The Archbishop of Westminster joined other religious leaders and the Mayor of London at the Tower of London on Monday, at an interfaith iftar with 100 young Londoners.
The iftar – the evening meal which ends the daily fast during Ramadan – was attended by Imam Mohamed Mahmoud of the East London Mosque, the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, and the Anglican Bishop of Willesden, Lusa Nsenga-Ngay.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols described the meeting of the three faiths as “a true expression of the call to worship God and to love our neighbour”.
“To come together at a time of fasting, common to all three faiths, is a blessing after the past two years.”
The event was organised by the Naz Legacy Foundation, the charity which continues the work of the educationalist Syed Nawazish Bokhari in supporting the positive integration of minorities. Previous iftars have been held at St Paul’s and at Archbishop’s House in Westminster.
The Mayor, Sadiq Khan, said: “Strengthening our faith in the company of others has always been a key part of Ramadan and the Naz Legacy Foundation interfaith iftar was a fantastic way to bring communities together.
“It was humbling to learn from each other and share our experiences, and showed once again that London’s greatest strength is our diversity.”
Writing in the Evening Standard, Harris Bokhari, a co-founder of the foundation, said that the event demonstrated the importance “of not rewriting our history and of educating our children with the positives and negatives of our shared histories”.
He contrasted the sinister role of the Tower of London as a place of imprisonment and torture for Catholics in the sixteenth century with its more positive associations for Jews, who sheltered there from medieval anti-Semitic mobs.
“Only by understanding the highs and lows of our shared histories will we be able to build a more progressive and cohesive society,” he concluded.
Speaking after the iftar, Cardinal Nichols emphasised that it was an opportunity for prayer.
“For all who live by faith in God, reflection and prayer always go hand in hand,” he said.
“Prayer completes reflection. Reflection informs prayer. Prayer opens our life to its true horizon. Without prayer we live in a foreshortened world and are more easily swamped by its clamour and tragedy.”
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