A campaign that encourages Muslims to invite friends, neighbours and colleagues of different faiths to fast for a day, and then invite their guest to their homes to break the fast.
A campaign that encourages Muslims to invite friends, neighbours and colleagues of different faiths to fast for a day, and then invite their guest to their homes to break the fast.
A group of friends from Oldham, UK hoped to challenge negative stereotypes of British Muslims by sharing the message of the holy month of Ramadan.
Nanu Miah, Hushiyar Ali and Kabir Ahmed launched a ‘Share Ramadan’ campaign that encourages Muslims to invite friends, neighbours and colleagues of different faiths to fast for a day, and then invite their guest to their homes to break the fast. Last year thousands of people participated all over the world, from the USA to Malaysia.
Why it began
The project was the brainchild of three friends, and it all began when Nanu Miah was thinking about how the far right and the media present Muslims in such a negative light and narrative. He thought the best way for non-Muslims to learn about Muslims was to actually come and speak to them, spend time with them and connect with them.
“A lot of people who are not from the Muslim faith really want to try it because they think we are bonkers for fasting for that long and not drinking water,” Hushiyar, another one of the founders, told the Manchester Evening News, back when the project was in its early stages in 2015. “But the whole idea of this is to create a dialogue between different people from different backgrounds and create a discussion about fasting and what it feels like… It’s about breaking down barriers, preconceptions and learning about other religions and values.”
How it works
1. Participants are asked to challenge a friend, neighbour or colleague of other faith or no faith to fast for one day.
2. They then need to invite them over to their house for iftar, to break their fast with the family.
3. Thereafter they share a photo or video to social media with the hashtag #ShareRamadan, tagging 5 other friends to follow the same steps!
The campaign began in 2014 and has since grown immensely. Not belonging to any particular organisation, it has attracted attention from mainstream media such as the BBC and ITV.
Taking #ShareRamadan challenge to a new level by fasting 7 days. Some are even doing the whole month. Amazing!!! 😄 #inspired pic.twitter.com/3QlIsw1sBo
— Share Ramadan (@ShareRamadan) June 12, 2017
The campaign seeks to remind us that we all have friends of other or no faith who we are very close to, and that love between friends exists regardless of faith. With this month being a time of sharing and reflecting, the campaign has inspired many meaningful discussions around the dinner table, with a share of a variety of cultures and culinary.
RE teacher took on the challenge. Reflected on how we have the privilege of having access to food. Watch her video diary #ShareRamadan pic.twitter.com/MkFVeyFxsa
— Share Ramadan (@ShareRamadan) June 12, 2017
“The key thing with this campaign is the personal touch of inviting people into your home,” Hushiyar said. “Because that is how people learn what it is to live as a British Muslim – by experiencing what we go through.”
In 2016, over a million people engaged on #ShareRamadan social media pages.
To join the campaign visit facebook.com/shareramadan or follow on Twitter at @ShareRamadan, using #shareramadan.
