Thousands of International Students Flock to Al-Azhar Mosque’s Ramadan Iftar Banquet
(AWP) - Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo is hosting a daily free banquet for thousands of international students of Azhar University who are observing the holy month Ramadan away from their families in other Muslim countries.
Mohammed al-Duwaini, Deputy of al-Azhar’s Grand Imam, said, “This collective iftar is held for our international students who belong to more than a hundred countries around the world. Al-Azhar al-Sharif is keen to host this banquet for them every year, and this is the third year in a row. We started this banquet two years ago and we are in the third year, God willing,”
He explained, “Al-Azhar Al-Sharif agreed to provide this banquet, as it realises that it must provide our international students with care and attention to alleviate the pain of homesickness.”
During the holy month of Ramadan, observant Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn till dusk.
Egyptian Al-Azhar student and volunteer, Ammar Ihab Mohammed, says that he has been involved in distributing free iftar meals to foreign students for several years.
He said, “We distribute between 5000 and 7500 meals a year, and this is throughout the month of Ramadan. For three years, we have been distributing continuously every day, delivering meal carts, juice, and water daily.”
“Thank God, there hasn’t been a day where we couldn’t distribute more than the required number,” he added.
Mahmoud Abbas Abdul Khaleq, an Azhar University student from Bangladesh, expressed his appreciation of the iftar banquet.
He said, “This gathering to break the fast by is a great service for international students who study at Al-Azhar, because there are many students from the around world who study at Egypt’s Al-Azhar, and I was pleased to participate in this gathering.”
Al-Azhar University hosts students from 120 countries across the globe, 5000 of whom break their daily fast at the Azhar Ramadan banquet, totalling around 150,000 free meals throughout the month.