PETALING JAYA, May 16 — Leaders and representatives from the Muslim and Christian communities came together today to break fast.
The iftar (breaking fast) dinner was hosted by the Global Unity Network (Unity) along with Christians for Peace and Harmony in Malaysia (CPHM), with the theme of “Common terms between us and you”.
The event is aimed at aims to bolstering a better understanding and deeper ties between Muslims and Christians.
“In Malaysia, we have been blessed for having peace harmony and unity but we have to exert effort to keep the harmony, peace and unity and this is one of the small steps we are doing and we hope we can do more for others,” said Unity President Shah Kirit Kakulal Govindji in a speech to a crowd of some 100 people who attended the Iftar event at the Royal Chulan Mutiara Damansara Hotel here today.
Shah Kirit also said that various religions share many similarities which each other, namely Islam and Christianity where both members of the faith observe fasting and among other practices.
“The other common thing that we have, Islam and Christianity, is that we want people to come back to God,” he said, stating further that society today has put too much emphasis into material possession.
“There is so much to say on the matter, but let us speak less and do more,” he added.
Unity has held the annual Iftar dinner for the past five years along with CPHM who also, in turn, have held their annual Christmas dinner hosting various religious groups in promoting closer ties together.
Speaking at the event, CPHM Chairman Lee Min Choon said unity among men is among the greatest “beauty” that should be preserved.
“The one beautiful thing that God sees in man is when there is unity among brothers and when God looks at Malaysia and see brothers and sisters in Malaysia living in unity surely it is a beautiful thing in the eyes of God. You can fail in many things but we must not fail in unity.
“So it is the aspirations of us now not just to live in unity but to promote, to encourage and to find ways in which we can bring about unity in our society.
“Unity is a beautiful thing in the sight of God and will bless all efforts to promote unity,” he said.
Before breaking of the fast, a minute of silence was also observed in remembering the victims of the terror attacks several churches and hotels in Sri Lanka last month and the Christchurch mosque shooting that occurred in March.
Also in attendance at the Iftar dinner event was members from the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, The Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department and the Selangor state Islamic Religious Department among others.
