Staff at Surrey organisations observe day of fasting
As part of the Fasting Collective, staff from Surrey Police, Fire and Rescue Service and County Council abstained from food and drink for a day.
Staff from the likes of Surrey Police, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service and Surrey County Council observed a day of fasting on Tuesday, to show support for Muslim colleagues and communities during Ramadan.
120 members of staff took part as part of the Fasting Collective, with around 100 people attending an event at the Mubarak Mosque near Farnham, where the fast was broken with an evening Iftar meal.
Colleagues also received tours of the Mosque and learnt of the incredible facilities such as the studios for the international TV station, Muslim Television Ahmadiyya. Colleagues had the opportunity to observe evening prayers led by the Caliph and worldwide leader of the community Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, and were treated to talented calligraphy writers, who created beautiful art pieces of names written in Arabic.
For 30 days, Muslims abstain from food and drink - including water – from sunrise to sunset, as a means of strengthening and reflecting on their faith.
Before the fast and speaking to Greatest Hits Radio Surrey and East Hampshire last week, Chief Fire Officer Dan Quin said "I suppose I'm nervous because I really want the experience to be authentic - I'm going to be going about a normal working day so I'm not looking to change anything, so I can really understand what Ramadan fasting is like for our Muslim colleagues and communities."
Speaking a day after the fast, Deputy Inclusion Lead and Chair of Surrey Police Association of Culture and Ethnicity, Farhan Hayat, said: "I suppose by actually doing the fast now for anyone that's not a Muslim... if they ever meet a Muslim person during Ramadan, I suppose they will know exactly what they're feeling, exactly what they're going through."
**"What it did do is gave me a real appreciation of what it must be like to go through that for an entire month."**
"During the day we observed the fast and colleagues documented how the day went. So at different time points during the day we had colleagues really reflect on how the day was going, what they were learning from it, what kind of experiences they felt."
Gareth Hicks, who's a Detective Chief Inspector, took part in the fast for the first time. He said "the most difficult thing that I found was going without water and liquid for the day... but it was still manageable.
"I think it was about taking on the right frame of mind, the right mindset."
"What it did do is gave me a real appreciation of what it must be like to go through that for an entire month."