Sheffield Interfaith

Best wishes to all our Muslim friends and neighbours celebrating Eid in these difficult circumstances. Have a happy, Holy and Blessed holiday despite continuing to keep safe and distant.

The Dialogue Society Sheffield Branch invite you to our online Ramadan Iftar event on Wednesday, 6^th May 2020. It would be a great pleasure for us to have you online for this event.    The month of Ramadan is a special time of the year for us and we would like to share the spirit of this great moment with you. Normally, we would celebrate Ramadan by organising Iftar dinner events and having people over for dinners at our houses. Obviously, this Ramadan will be different. However, as the Dialogue Society Sheffield Branch, we still would like to celebrate the month of Ramadan and we would be honoured to transmit the spirit of this moment of peace, fellowship and truth with yourselves through an online event. Unfortunately, we will not be able to serve Iftar dinner at this event like we used to, but we promise we will make up for it as soon as life goes back to normal.   The event will be streamed live on the Dialogue Society’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, 6th May from 6 pm to 7 pm. We will entertain guest speakers from Sheffield, present some visual contents and a live music performance. 
Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/DialogueSociety/live

Sheffield Interfaith sends best wishes for a Holy and Healthy Ramadan, at this very difficult time, to all Muslims in Sheffield and beyond.

This is a personal message from Abdool Kadir of the Islamic Society of Great Britain with suggestions for action individually and as faith groups:

England is now engaged in a health war against an invisible enemy. We are entering unprecedented times, not seen since its over 5.000 official deaths. In such times of crisis, our faith traditions insist on spiritual calmness and inner serenity, always mindful that we must take the necessary precautions to protect ourselves and our loved ones in accordance with and beyond government directives. Our faith traditions also insist that we show utmost concern for all vulnerable people in our family network, in our faith communities and in our local networks and neighbourhoods.

We should correctly be fearful, but not be overcome with overwhelming terror and despair. With their centuries-long histories, all major faith traditions have extensive experience of past epidemics. Faith can be a sustaining force in this time of need, in this time of isolation. We commend to all British, especially those in partial or complete lockdown, to seek solace in

(i) participating in live-streamed acts of worship,

(ii) meditating and praying in the silence of their houses and apartments,

(iii) praying before domestic altars, statues and sacred images,

(iv) reading and reflecting on passages from the Holy Scriptures of one’s spiritual tradition and

(v) doing spiritual reading.

In this way, we can all adjust to aloneness and loneliness. And reflect on life and its meaning. The Covid-19 crisis reminds us all of the fragility and precariousness of life.

At this time, We pray for those who have already died and for their loved ones, and for all those who are ill from the virus as well as those are fearful in the face of the threat of illness and death.

We pray for the doctors, nurses and other health workers caring for the sick and perhaps risking their lives, and for the medical scientists working speedily for solutions.

We pray for the health care and emergency services chaplains and their support volunteers We fear for those who are living alone, especially if they are widowed, and for international students and all others on temporary visas – may they receive the necessary emotional and pastoral support in these times of trial. We are concerned for those living in regional and remote areas to whom we must reach out.

But more may be needed, not least in multicultural communities who may not have the necessary financial reserves to cope and survive.

We ask the faith-based welfare organisations to collaborate in mobilising their resources quickly and efficiently to meet the difficulties to be faced by families and individuals, particularly the homeless.

Lastly, we pray for national connectedness and teamwork in addressing the crisis and call upon all faith communities with their on-the-ground spiritual, pastoral and welfare resources in every British local, suburban and rural, community to respond quickly and appropriately. We pray.

Blessing

Abdool Kadir

Islamic Society of Britain South Yorkshire Branch

UK Prays: Community and Faith Leaders pray for humanity amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Dialogue Society will host an inclusive unifying moment of prayer for humanity amid the Covid-10 pandemic with the participation of community leaders from the UK

Live on YouTube.com/dialoguesociety/live

We apologise for the short notice

For those of you who are key workers in the health service, social care, food production and distribution and the many other essential jobs (some of which were recently described as ‘unskilled’ and are now being appreciated as vital) – THANK YOU. You will be working very hard and will not have the time or energy for leisure, but I hope you have some spiritual support from your faith community and/or family.

For others who are stuck at home, alone, without much to do, we hope your faith gives you support and strength, plus maybe a community accessible by phone or internet. I was grateful to be able to worship at home on Sunday using an order of service produced by the Methodist Church and have since spoken to others in my congregation who did the same thing at the same time. I am sure other churches and faith groups have done the same on their various holy days.

If anybody would like to send in their thoughts, or any favourite writing, prayers or poems that provide helpful ideas for getting through this difficult time, and builds our interfaith relations while we are separated, we would love to hear from you. Email us at Sheffieldinterfaith@hotmail.co.uk

The Dialogue Society invite you to their upcoming event on Monday, 16th March at 7.00 pm. This time the event will be at Shirley House Room 1 (31 Psalter Lane, S11 8YL). The event will be a seminar/talk on “Life After Death” and will be presented by Dr Chris Hewer, who comes from a background in Christian theology, education, Islamic studies and inter-faith studies.
We would be delighted to have you at the event. You may also forward this invitation to whoever you might think could be interested. We are looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you at the event. Please RSVP for the event to sheffield@dialoguesociety.com