Muslim group invites local LGBT community to end of Ramadan celebrations

A Muslim group in Ireland invited members of the local LGBT community to an event to mark the end of Ramadan.

On Saturday (July 2) the Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council hosted an event where different groups of individuals came to celebrate with end of the religious festival, which sees Muslims worldwide observe a month of fasting, Gay Star News reports.

The event was held in Dublin, and was also attended by a Jewish Holocaust survivor, Tomi Reichental.

The council’s imam and chairman, Shaykh Dr. Umar Al-Qadri, took to Facebook to share his announce his excitement at meeting members of the local LGBT community.

He wrote: “Looking forward to welcoming our guests tonight in the Community Iftar. Received many confirmations from members of the LGBT community and others.”

The religious leader added that inviting people from outside the faith represented “true Islamic ideals”.

He continued: “As more than one billion of Muslims worldwide celebrate Ramadan by fasting and appreciating the blessings given to us, it is equally important for the Irish Muslim community to reach out to our neighbours as an example of true Islamic ideals.”

Dr. Umar Al-Qadri is known as a supported of the Irish LGBT community. Following last month’s shooting in the Orlando he said: “I stand with the LGBT community and I am against the marginalisation of any group.”

“It should not have happened. We are a minority ourselves, we understand what discrimination is.”

He adds that his religion teaches them to not be prejudicial of anyone “regardless of their religion or background”.

“We are all diverse, yet we all share one thing – our common humanity. Being a member of the LGBT community is not a sin, it’s not something you find in the Quran. We can’t treat them differently.”

Meanwhile, Australia’s first openly gay Islamic cleric recently gave a groundbreaking interview about his faith and sexuality – click here to read more.

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