Iftar

Iftar is an evening meal that follows the days fasting during Ramadan. As far as I can understand they are family gatherings, a shared breaking of the fast together. It happens at evening time straight after sunset. An old friend from the Café, he hasn't visited in quite a while, came in yesterday. He lives nearby with his family and has invited me to join him for Iftar one night. It is a great opportunity to experience something like this, and I hope to have a reciprocal event in the café thereafter. Ramadan is considered by Muslims as the holiest month of the year - the year they believe the prophet Mohammed received his revelation from Allah. It is supposed to be a time of reflection and repentance - a self-submitted desert time. Ramadan is believed to be a time of worship - they fast for the sake of God.
The chap that came to church last Sunday met up with me twice the following Tuesday. We had some really interesting conversations and I got to learn some of his family history. He said his father died when he was only one year old and that he doesn't think it affected him much. I think that whatever kind of parenting we had affects us massively, but I know I often underestimated it's significance. He said that he found the sermon interesting yet he couldn't follow it too well since he believed the account of Abraham was an allegory and not fiction. He did like hearing when I said to give God the wrong kind of offering is like giving a bunch of flowers to the parent of a child you have killed in a car accident - an insult. It is so nice to get into some deep conversations with these friends.