Hilm collaborates with Canadian Youth Development to bring inter-community iftar dinner to Montreal

An inter-community Iftar dinner — the fast-breaking meal during Ramadan — saw residents, elected officials, and charities come together in Montreal’s West Island Tuesday evening.

“They know our culture, we know their culture, so it’s nice, everybody gathers, has some good food and good talk, that’s it,” said Wael Allou, owner of Al Quds Grill.

The dinner was organized by non-profit organization Hilm in collaboration with the Canadian Youth Development Centre (CYD). The purpose? To build bridges and get to know one another.

“See what we have in common, understanding each other — this is one of the most important things,” said Imam Adil Ahmed. “There is a lot of ignorance and we fear (towards) what we don’t know. The more we get to know each other, we understand each other, we see how much we have in common with each other, this brings us together.”

Ramadan is the holiest time of year for 1.8 billion Muslims around the world. It is a time of fasting, which means forgoing eating and drinking from dawn to sundown, increasing acts of charity and taking care of one’s neighbours.

“The last few weeks have been emotionally draining, every time you turn on the news, the energy is so bad. And to come here is so soul-inspiring and I received a lot of wisdom and feel re-energized to say that, well, yeah, we are one common humanity and that we should be celebrating our differences,” said Jess Agustin, Filipino-Montrealer.

Liberal MNA Monsef Derraji said that he attended the dinner exactly for that reason — community building.

“I feel good because this is the spirit of Ramadan, bringing people together and we want to congratulate the association because they are working very hard to bring our community together,” said Derraji. “This is the spirit of West Island, working together during bad times, good times, and that’s why I’m here, I’m here to celebrate with my community, I’m here with our other elected officials to bring this spirit of Ramadan.”

Derraji was not the only elected official at the dinner, Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough mayor Jim Beis was also in attendance, along with city councilors from Kirkland and Pierrefonds-Roxboro.

“I’m proud to be the mayor of this culturally diverse place, where we celebrate our diversity and tonight when you see in the room all the different organizations, different communities that are here as well, really celebrating around food, but also getting to know each other. Folks that have known each other probably a long time and others that have met for the first time,” said Beis. “So this initiative, what it does is it really brings us together and this is a real example of who we are on the West Island and particularly in my borough.”

“We’re blessed to be here and what better way to do this than during Ramadan and the Iftar and to celebrate around food.”