Beyond The Fast: Mumbai's Volunteers Turn Ramzan Into A City-Wide Mission Of Sehri, Iftar, And Selfless Service For The Needy
During Ramzan, volunteers in Mumbai are distributing sehri and iftar meals to relatives of hospital patients, travellers and market workers who struggle to find food during fasting hours. Some groups deliver food near Crawford Market and Sir J J Hospital, continuing traditions that have served hundreds of people daily for many years.
In the Muslim holy month of Ramzan, groups of volunteers in the city are ensuring that sehri and iftar — the meals that start and end the dawn-to-dusk fasting — reach people who have limited access to food. |
Mumbai: In the Muslim holy month of Ramzan, groups of volunteers in the city are ensuring that sehri and iftar — the meals that start and end the dawn-to-dusk fasting — reach people who have limited access to food.
22 Years of Iftar at Crawford Market
Among their beneficiaries are relatives of patients admitted to public hospitals, doctors, travellers and people working in markets. Shuaib Khatib, a cloth merchant and trustee of Jama Masjid, the city’s main mosque, serves 700 to 800 iftar meals near the Gulshan E Iran restaurant close to Crawford Market (Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Mandai) every evening during the month. Many of those who take advantage of the service are women who come to shop for essentials. The tradition is 22 years old.
“Feeding iftar to the needy earns you goodwill from God,” said Khatib, who disapproves of the so-called political iftars where influential people gather.
There are smaller groups that come together during Ramzan to distribute food. Shahid Ashrafi, a resident of south Mumbai, is part of a group of six friends who pool money before and during the month to distribute sehri meals at the Sir J J Hospital in Byculla.
A Vegetarian Meal for All, Before the Break of Dawn
Between 3.00 and 4.00 am, they arrive at the hospital with around 150 to 200 packages of food, tea and water. They reach there early so that they can return home before dawn breaks. Most of the people who receive the food are relatives of patients who are observing the Ramzan fast.
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“But there are also non-Muslims who accept the food. That is the reason why the meals are vegetarian, except for the boiled egg,” said Ashrafi, who has been part of the group for 18 years. “Restaurants are closed at that time and people have to quickly have the sehri before dawn breaks,” he added.
The Spirit of Sawab
Zeenat Shaukat Ali, former professor of Islam and founder-director of Wisdom Foundation, said it is believed that every good deed during the month earns sawab (spiritual merit) that is more than 70 times greater.
“You do things not in the hope of getting anything in return but to be gracious to the Creator. The receiver of your good deed can be a person outside a mosque, church, temple or a vihara. The gift says that spirituality is in you,” said Ali.
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