ZAMBOANGA CITY - Muslim and Christian religious leaders, along with their followers in this city, held a joint celebration of Iftar - the ritualistic breaking of the Ramadan fast -sponsored by the Inter-Religious Solidarity Movement for Peace (IRSMP) last Saturday evening, participants reported Friday.
Iftar is a deep spiritual experience sharing with God and with one another, IRSMP Catholic convenor Fr. Angel Calvo, CMF, explained.
He said over a hundred members of the movement, including a sizeable number of guests attended the event, held at the Solidarity Center of Peace Advocates Zamboanga (PAZ).
"We pray that we may sustain this spirit of interfaith solidarity and flourish in many ways our sense of faith, purification and peace," the Catholic priest here said.
National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Regional Director Ilkhab Salahuddin underscored the primordial goal of Islam as a religion aimed to cleanse the heart of its every believer.
Through this cleansing and transformation as a righteous man, he said, man saves himself and the world by avoiding evil and doing good.
"A clean heart takes care of everything," Salahuddin declared.
Muslims all over the world fast from taking food and water and make other bodily sacrifices during the month of Ramadan, which started on Aug. 11.
Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam, Salahuddin noted. It reminds Muslims the month when Allah gave the Kor'an to Prophet Mohammad.
It is through the Koranic laws that God teaches people how to live as brothers, to love one another, he added.
In giving a message on behalf of the Golden Crescent Consortium of Peace Builders and Affiliates, Hja. Rahma Sakaluran-Mohammad described the month of Ramadan as a time of great compassion.
