Muslim community in Bendigo breaks fast at community iftar feast

Iftar is a feast held at sunset during Ramadan. Muslims break their daily fast following an evening prayer.

At the Strathdale Community Centre, hundreds of people gathered for the fourth iftar community event of Ramadan, which finishes with Eid al-Fitr on Friday, April 21.

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Bendigo Interfaith Council founding member Heri Febriyanto said it was fantastic to see Muslim and non-Muslim communities come together.

"We chose every Friday because most people have the time to come together to celebrate with us," he said.

"You can see [everyone] gathering, We would like to celebrate all together. We open today to everyone to come to celebrate because we can share and enjoy our happiness."

Each iftar feast in Bendigo has been hosted by a different nationality, something unique for Muslim celebrations.

The fourth was hosted by the Afghani community, while the Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi communities all helped host previous iftars.

Mr Febriyanto said invitations were passed on to the interfaith community of Bendigo, with representatives of the City of Greater Bendigo, the Indian, Sikh, and Buddhist communities all in attendance.

He said there were between 700 and 800 Muslim people living in Bendigo and the community was growing all the time with people coming to regional Victoria to work and study.

There were hopes the next Ramadan celebrations in Bendigo would be held at the new Bendigo Islamic Community Centre.

Spokesperson for the centre Dr Aisha Neelam said the project was "nearing the end".

"I can't wait for it to be over; I just wish we could use it already," she said.

"We can't wait to start the next chapter, get it off the ground, get it moving, use it for its intended purpose, and for it to be a welcoming space for interfaith dialogue as well, which is one of the big things that we want to do.

"We want to bust some myths about Muslims. And I think the best way to do that is to interact. And if we've got a space where we can interact, that'd be great."

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Dr Neelam said the controversy surrounding the mosque left Bendigo in a "dark period", but led to the creation of positive groups such as the Bendigo Interfaith Council and Believe in Bendigo.

"The Interfaith Council was always seen as a silver lining," she said.

"The Interfaith Council, Believe in Bendigo, they were all brought about in what was a very dark period for Bendigo, but we got a lot of positivity out of it.

"So to me that's been the silver lining in all of this, and it's been pretty amazing to watch that grow and thrive."

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