While the Philadelphia City Hall Iftar Dinner represented the breaking of the day’s fast during Ramadan, it was in many ways a community event.
By Denise Clay-Murray
Usually, the Mayor’s Reception Room on the second floor of City Hall is teeming with reporters and dignitaries waiting to hold a press conference or witness a bill signing.
But recently, the Reception Room turned into a formal dining room when it hosted the Philadelphia Ramadan and Eid Fund’s City Hall Iftar dinner.
The Iftar is a fundraiser for the Ramadan and Eid fund, a non-profit whose mission is to provide the community with resources and programming to celebrate the holiday, which concludes on the evening of March 29. Last year’s City Hall Iftar raised $125,000 for the Eid fund, said Salima Suswell, the fund’s founder.
Among the officials in attendance were City Council members Curtis Jones (D-4th Dist.) and Nina Ahmad (At-Large), the body’s lone Muslim members, City Council President Kenyatta Johnson (D-2nd Dist.), who announced a $5,000 donation to the fund, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (D- 3rd Dist.), and Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, State Sen. Sharif Street (D-3rd Dist.), House Appropriations Chair Jordan Harris (D-186th Dist.), and State Reps. Darisha Parker (D-198th Dist.) and Tarik Khan (D-194th Dist.).
While Muslims from around the region often come to Ramadan and Eid Fund events, organizers didn’t realize just how great the need for assistance was for many people until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Suswell said. Going to the homes of Muslim families in need showed just how important events like the City Hall dinner are.
“Through your sponsorships, and through your support, we have helped thousands of families to celebrate,” Suswell said. “And we are going to continue that work.”
The city has to continue that work as well, Councilmember Jones said. While the Ramadan and Eid Fund’s work is important, more is needed, he said.
“We have to do more intentional thinking on how to provide services for the least of us, because they’re going to need our unity more than our effort,” Jones said. “So to my elected brothers and sisters here, every time you open a rec center, every time you build a house for the needy, every time you create a new system of law that helps people, it lives beyond you. So, we’re going to keep on doing the right thing for humanity. We’re going to keep building. We’re going to keep passing laws that are just.”
Among the campaign promises she made when running for mayor in 2023, Cherelle Parker promised the Muslim community that she would create an Office of Muslim Engagement. The leader of that office, Quaiser D. Abdullah, spoke about some of the things the office is doing for the community in the areas of criminal justice, education, and health care.
He then introduced Mayor Parker, who acknowledged how important events like the Iftar are at a time when the nation’s diverse communities are being pushed out of government instead of being invited in.
“Our diverse communities of faith are the core strength of our city,” she said. “If we’ve learned anything during these difficult times, we’ve learned that the time is now for us to support everyone’s right to worship as they choose in the city of Philadelphia.”
The Iftar is a nightly dinner held by Muslims during Ramadan to break the fast that they’ve been engaged in from sunup to sundown during the holy month and is usually held with family and friends. First, dates and water are consumed, a call to prayer is issued, and then dinner is served.
Ramadan ends on the evening of Saturday, March 29.
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