The Joy of the Breaking of the Fast in Moscow

The joy of Ramadan, the king of eleven months can be felt all over the world by the going up of the breaking of the fast tents. The Municipality of Zeytinburnu which, in previous years had set up breaking of the fast tables in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan brought together the representatives of the three celestial religions on the breaking of the fast table in a very different country. The Municipality of Zeytinburnu which had first set up a breaking up of the fast in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus had finally set up a breaking of the fast table in Russia. Moscow, the capital of Russia which had been dominated by communism for centuries is now filled with tolerance. The Municipality of Zeytinburnu set up a breaking of the fast table in the Victory Park in Moscow where the mosque, church and the synagogue exist side by side. In the breaking of the fast tent where people belonging to different religions and nations came together the joy of Ramadan was felt by all. The quality of the breaking of the fast menu which consisted of lentil soup, eggplant kebab, rice, cucumber-yoghurt dish, dessert, fruit and beverages was as good as the quality of food one would expect to find at any five star hotel.

The breaking of the fast dinner which was held with the support of the Municipality of Moscow and the Council of Moscow Muftis was hosted by Murat Aydın, the mayor of Zeytinburnu. The breaking of the fast dinner was attended by Turkey’s Ambassador to Moscow Kurtuluş Taşkent, the chairman of the Council of Moscow Muftis Ravil Gaynuddin, Chairman of the Umut Foundation Mustafa Kütükçü, Nevzat Yalçıntaş, the previous chairman of Russia – Turkey Inter Parliamentary Friendship Group, Assistant to the Russian Chief Rabbi Zinoviy Lvoviç, Vsevolod Çaplin, the Foreign Relations Secretary of the Russian Orthodox Church and ordinary citizens of Muslim and other faiths. In the breaking of the fast dinner warm dialogues were experienced and messages of friendship were communicated between the citizens of different faiths. The area where the Ramadan tent was placed was specially designated. The breaking of the fast dinner which was held in Victory Park which carries signs of the three celestial religions began with the reading of the call to prayer from the mosque situated right next to the tent. The breaking of the fast occurred in an environment which was characterized by peace and tolerance. After the breaking of the fast, a speech was delivered to the 500 people who filled the tent by the Mayor of Zeytinburnu Municipality Murat Aydın. In his speech Mr. Aydin shared his thoughts and feelings and stated that “I am very excited to have the opportunity to experience and cause others to experience the joy of Ramadan in a capital city like Moscow. Until today we held this event in many capital cities of many countries but none of them made me feel this excited.” Mr. Aydin also expressed that Islam is a religion of tolerance “It really means a lot to us for the Russian Government to give us an opportunity such as this. On behalf of the people of Turkey I would like to thank the Municipality of Moscow and the Russian Government. I believe that activities such as these will make a grand contribution to the creation and development of economic, cultural and social dialogues between Turkey and Russia. I would also like to express my thanks to the representatives of the three celestial religions for joining us in our breaking of the fast dinner.” The chairman of the Council of Moscow Muftis Ravil Gaynuddin thanked the Mayor of Zeytinburnu Mr. Murat Aydin. Gaynuddin also emphasized the importance of the organization of a breaking of the fast dinner in Moscow by a Turkish Municipality due to the occasion of Ramadan- the month of sharing and helping each other. He stated that “It gives us strength to know that our Muslim brothers and sisters here aren’t forgotten and to join them in their joyful celebration of Ramadan. I would like to express my endless gratitude to Mr. Aydin for holding the hands of our brothers and sisters.” The Turkish Ambassador to Moscow Kurtuluş Taşkent expressed his pleasure with the emergent atmosphere of peace and tolerance in the tent and stated that the atmosphere of dialog and tolerance which exists in the Russian society proves once again the falsity of the evaluation of clash of religions and civilizations as expressed in certain circles.

Nevzat Yalçıntaş, the previous chairman of Russia – Turkey Inter Parliamentary Friendship Group expressed his excitement at the breaking of the fast in the tent by stating “History is being written here. I came to Russia in the 1960’s- 1970’s. If at that time somebody was to say that a mosque such as this one will be built in Victory Park that Muslims will set up a breaking of the fast tent and will break their fast together. Well this statement could only be seen as a dream. Here is the proof that people are enjoying religious freedom. We are very pleased to be able to see the scenes that we could normally see in Istanbul and other cities of Turkey here in Russia. I would like to thank the Mayor of Zeytinburnu Municipality Mr. Murat Aydin for giving us this opportunity.”

For the Assistant to the Russian Chief Rabbi Zinoviy Lvoviç to begin his speech by saying “Salamonalaykom” caused the people who filled the tent to applaud him for a long time. Lvoviç expressed that all of humankind are bothers and sisters and stated that, “We are all brothers and sisters. At this time Allah sent the Koran to our Muslim brothers and sisters. Even though there are different religions we are following the truths which are very close to and similar to each other. The Jews are also having celebrations at this time. We are also setting up tents and lining up tables with food and we are eating all together.”

Vsevolod Çaplin, the Foreign Relations Secretary of the Russian Orthodox Church also expressed his joy at sharing the same table and the same food with Muslims. Çaplin emphasized that in Russia love and respect form the most important aspect of the relations between religions and continued by saying “Strong societies can only be created in an environment of religious freedom, with mutual respect and understanding” Çaplin added that the mixing or ignoring religions had originated and remained in the old Soviet era. After speeches by religious leaders where the hopes that the entire world should model the understanding of tolerance and dialogue that existed in the breaking of the fast tent in Moscow the Koran was read and religious songs were sung by two young girls that were educated in the premises of the mufti. After the breaking of the fast the mayor of Zeytinburnu Municipality Murat Aydın gave the chairman of the Council of Moscow Muftis Ravil Gaynuddin a piece of marbling art as a gift and presented a book which has monographic work belonging to Zeytinburnu published in both Turkish and English titled “The other side of City Walls- Zeytinburnu.” On the invitation of the mayor of Zeytinburnu Municipality Murat Aydın to visit, Gaynuddin responded by saying that he will come to Turkey as soon as possible.