Last night, I was pleased to be invited by the Blue Star Intercultural Centre to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, over a traditional Iftar dinner in a Muslim family home in the Canberra suburbs. Having lived for the last four years in Singapore where a sixth of the population are Muslim, I knew it would be an enjoyable experience, and that the food would be excellent.
Abdul Celil Gelim and his wife Zuheyda proved to be most gracious hosts. He and several of his guests were of Turkish origin, one of them was a German-born Turk, another guest was Iraqi. Turks make up one of the larger Muslim groups in Australia, though as in the UK, Muslims trace their origins to many parts of the world. There are around 340,000 Muslims in Australia, less than 2% of the population, though this is growing three times faster than the population as a whole. In the UK we have around 2m Muslims. The town where I live in England, Woking, has quite a large community as it boasts the oldest mosque in Britain, the Shah Jahan Mosque, dating from 1889.
Other guests included a Chinese-Australian representing the Buddhist community, and a lady who worked for the Catholic Bishops Conference. With such a diverse group of people around the table we had some really fascinating conversations. And, as anticipated, the food was fantastic.