Wadham held its first Interfaith Ramadan Iftar Formal

The Iftar was held on Friday 20 Februray as a student formal dinner, with a High Table for Fellows and Lecturers. In keeping with the religious nature of the event, no alcohol was served. The menu was curated to reflect a range of cuisines, celebrating the cultural diversity within the Muslim community.

This event was intended to be both a meaningful religious observance for our Muslim members of the College and an inclusive opportunity for the wider college community to learn about and engage with Ramadan traditions. We also hope it will be the first of many interfaith celebrations at Wadham, fostering greater understanding and dialogue across different faiths and communities. Our SU People of Colour and Racial Equality Officers, Sophie and Reem, explain how it came about:

"We organised Wadham’s first ever Interfaith Ramadan Iftar Formal with the College’s Tutor for Race and Jeffrey Hackney Fellow for Law, Shazia Choudhry. The formal opened with dates, for attendees to break their fast in the traditional way. The food served sought to represent cuisines from a range of Muslim-majority countries, and with the help of the Muslim community within Wadham, a communal prayer was arranged prior to the dinner. Of course, people of all backgrounds and religions were welcome to attend!

This was a great opportunity to incorporate religious inclusion into our role as PoCRE officers, and celebrate religious diversity on both a College and University level. The formal sought to promote religious cohesion, and blaze the trail in terms of Wadham’s celebration of the holy month of Ramadan. We aim for this to be the first of many, and to continue celebrating the many religions at Wadham."

Shazia Choudhry, Tutor for Race, added:

“It was a pleasure to organise the Interfaith Ramadan Iftar Formal, and I am grateful to our SU People of Colour and Racial Equality Officers for their support in shaping the event that brought together Fellows, Lecturers, and students from across the College. It was wonderful to see everyone come together across different backgrounds, and I’m delighted that the event fostered such a sense of inclusion and shared purpose.”