This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
Leicester South MP Jon Ashworth to join Ramadan fast
by Dan Martin
Leicester South MP Jon Asworth is to join Muslims marking Ramadan by fasting for a day.
Mr Ashworth will go without food, from sunrise to sunset on Wednesday, with worshippers at the Masjid Umar Mosque in Evington Drive.
The Labour politician is repeating a fast he took part in last yearHe said: “Last year I fasted during Ramadan because I wanted to have a deeper and more spiritual understanding of Islam.
“It was such a rewarding experience, and that’s why I want to fast again this year.”
“Ramadan is such an important time for so many families across Leicester.
“I want to show my support to the local community, but more than that, I want to experience Ramadan for myself again.”
The MP will start the day with an early meal, called sehri, at the home of Gulam Husain, the secretary general of the mosque.
He will not eat until breaking his fast with dates and water at Masjid Al Falah on Keythorpe Street on Wednesday night.
He added: “I’ll be fasting for the whole day, but like many Muslims I’ll go about my day as usual and will be working from my constituency office.”
“Even though I’ll only be fasting for one day, I’m still glad that I can take part in Ramadan in my own small way.
“I know it’ll be tough, and I wrote a blog about it all last year, but I know this year’s fast will reinforce everything that I took away from the experience last year.”
No comments:
Post a Comment