The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Austin, Texas, is hosting an Interfaith Ramadan Iftar Dinner soon, bringing together members of the Episcopal community and Muslims to share in the “sacred moment of fast-breaking” during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, followed by a communal meal.
The Church of the Good Shepherd is a prominent Episcopal parish led by The Rev. Stanford Adams, who serves as Rector.
The church recently promoted an informational session on Ramadan to prepare participants and hype them up for the shared fast-breaking experience and Iftar dinner.
Redditor creidmheach anticipates how this will go down:
Basically you’ll probably get a Muslim Imam give a speech talking about fasting and Ramadan’s significance, peppered in with some propaganda about how they believe in Jesus too, etc.
The Muslims would almost certainly do their prayers first before eating (since the breaking of the fast is at sunset, which also the time of one of their daily prayers), preceded by the call to prayer (which includes bearing testimony to Muhammad’s being God’s messenger). In the prayers, they’ll recite al-Fatiha, which has the line “not the path of those upon whom you are wrathful nor of the astray”, which classical Muslim interpreters explained as referring to the Jews and the Christians. They may also recite al-Ikhlas, which testifies that God has not begotten nor been begotten. And again they’ll testify to Muhammad’s being a prophet and send their greetings to him.
Meanwhile the folks in your church might ooh and aah at how beautiful and multicultural this all is, as their beliefs are ritually denounced in their own church, and the lies of an antiChrist prophet being proclaimed.
The food will likely be pretty good though.
