Features / Bristol
Celebrating the end of Ramadan on St Mark’s Road
St Mark’s Road in Easton was filled with colours on Thursday night. The pink of the carpet, the geometric gold of the mosque and the yellowy white of the flowers that lined the street.
The bunting and the smell of cooking alerted you to the fact that a feast was about to happen.
This was Bristol’s first community-wide, multi-faith ‘grand street Iftar’ to mark the 27th night of Ramadan.
is needed now More than ever
The event saw the closure of the road and the opening of the doors of the Jamia Masjid mosque for anybody to step inside, with the mosque glistening in the evening light.
From the mosque’s balcony, visitors could watch the crowds in the street below, with children running around happily as older veterans of the community mixed and mingled.
Farooq Sidiqui
Mosque chairman Abdul Malik spoke to an audience inside the building about how the event was the first in Bristol of its kind and welcomed members from across the community.
Meanwhile, mosque secretary Farooq Sidiqui spoke about conscience. Highlighting the importance of peace in society, hw said: “We can choose to do wrong, and we can choose to do right.”
The emphasis was on togetherness, with the pair adding together: “We are Easton. This is Easton.”
People young and old celebrated Iftar
At 9.30pm, a call to prayer was sung and the end of the fast signalled, at which point cans of Pepsi cracked open and dates, bananas, smiles and chatter were exchanged.
Members of different faith groups attended the gathering. Two friends, Ishmael Akram and Abdilhakim told Bristol24/7 that they applauded the event “not just because it’s an iftar, but because it’s outside for everyone to see”.
They added that “especially now after the recent attacks in Finsbury Park, at London Bridge and in Manchester it’s important to show that we are together, and that this is about our community”.
Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire also attended the event, saying that she was proud of the sense of community.
“It shows that we’re united in Bristol,” she said.
Two friends on St Mark’s Road
Read more: Unsung Hero: Abdul Malik
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