Crowds outside Finsbury Park Mosque breaking their fast on Tuesday

MORE than 1,500 people gathered outside Finsbury Park Mosque on Tuesday evening to celebrate breaking their fast in an event aimed at showing the meaning of community spirit.

The “Street Iftar” – a mass breaking of fast during Ramadan – was organised by Finsbury Park Mosque, Muslim Welfare House and Islamic Relief, and welcomed people of all faiths.

Ramadan is a 30-day period of fasting, when one meal (Suhour) is eaten before dawn and the other (Iftar) after sunset.

Kaltun Abdillahi, left, and Alaa Abuesba

First organised six years ago in response to the terrorist attack at Finsbury Park Mosque that killed Makram Ali and injured 12 others, attendees say the event brings people together and shows the world what Ramadan is all about – community.

Ten speakers from different faiths and backgrounds addressed the crowd. Rabbi Roni Tabick from Islington Faith Forum said: “We have to look after each other. When that awful terrorist attack happened outside Finsbury Park Mosque, my community came and we handed out food and water. It was our pleasure and our privilege to be able to support you in those times.”

Salwa and Idris Beik

Toufik Kacimi, CEO of Muslim Welfare House, mourned the loss of Makram Ali and marked the significance of the evening: “Today, this unity, this togetherness, is unique. It exists in Finsbury Park and we need to send it as a message to others that no racism, no Islamophobia, no anti-Semitism is accepted anywhere in the UK.”

Mubeen Hussain started volunteering with Islamic Relief in his GCSE year. Ten years later, he’s at Street Iftar making sure everything runs smoothly as well as breaking his own fast.

Rabbi Roni Tabick

“There’s a stigma around the Muslim community about how maybe we don’t integrate as much or how we’re kind of closed off, but this shows that we’re not and we’re open to everything,” he said.

Idris, 23, and Salwa Beik, 27, are siblings. After breaking their fast with dates and a drink of water, they were on their way into the mosque for the Maghrib prayer. “My brother has just moved to London, so he doesn’t really know anyone yet, and this is a good way to get to know people,” said Ms Beik.

Toufik Kacimi

With no seats left by the plastic sheets, Kaltun Abdillahi, 28, and Alaa Abuesba, 27, took refuge sitting on a low wall outside the mosque.

“It’s not just people who are fasting here today – it’s their neighbours, it’s people who are interested in the area, and at the end of the day, it brings people together,” said Ms Abdillahi.

Mubeen Hussain

Mohammed Kozbar, the head of Finsbury Park Mosque, told the Tribune: “Ramadan is a month of giving, a month of charity, a month of unity, a month of forgiveness – it means quite a lot, not just only to me, but to all Muslims around the world.

“It is a month that we wait for every year, so we can not only fast, but also become closer to God and do good deeds – and this is one of them.”