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BOROUGH PRESIDENT JOINS BROOKLYN MUSLIMS FOR IFTAR DINNER IN HONOR OF RAMADAN

Photograph by Laura Geiser

In photo (form left to right): Borough President Marty Markowitz, Mehmet Kalkan of the United American Muslim Association; Mohammad Razvi of the Council of Peoples Organization; Debbie Almontaser of Women in Islam and Yemeni American Association; and Amir Abdullah Muhammad Abdul-Akbar of the Caribbean American Program for Empowerment.

On Wednesday, October 5, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz hosted an Iftar break-fast dinner after sundown in honor of Ramadan. Brooklyn Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Yemen, Albania and the nations of the former Yugoslavia joined together at Borough Hall to mark the first week of Ramadan, the annual month-long Muslim holiday of forgiveness and purification.

“Last year’s Ramadan celebration was the first time we officially honored a Muslim holiday here at borough hall — and it was long overdue and, I am proud to continue that tradition this year,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “Tonight’s Iftar dinner marks the end of the day’s fast. Coincidentally, sundown also marked the end of Rosh Hashanah for Jews like me. The overlapping of Muslim and Jewish celebrations, as Yom Kippur comes next week, proves once again that in Brooklyn, we are all children of one God. The way Brooklynites, of every faith co-exist as neighbors, is proof that Brooklyn is a model of peace for the rest of the world.”

At this year’s break-fast the Borough President honored A’Aliyah Abdul-Karim, Founder of the National Islamic Sisters Alliance; Erhan Yildirim of the United American Muslim Association; Imam Hafiz Mohammad Sabir of Makki Mosque in Midwood, and the Council of Peoples Organization and its Executive Director Mohammad Razvi.