Christians join Muslims on Eid to spread peace and love

Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs, together participated with Muslims celebrating Eid, marking the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting.

Pakistan Christian National Party chairman Joseph Francis said Eid was like Christmas and that both occasions were meant for peace.

“We are celebrating Eid and are sending greetings to our friends,” he said.

On the same day (Oct 11), Faisalabad's Council for Inter–religious dialogue hosted Muslim leaders and Christians in the cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, offering them an iftar, in a move to promote harmony and understanding between the religious communities.

The event contained guests and religious leaders from both communities who attended the banquet –– among whom were Sufi Masood Ahmad Lassani, a well known Muslim scholar, and bishop Msgr. Joseph Coutts.

Speaking to AsiaNews, the bishop explained: “In order to bring harmony in society we have to seek out and reach out to all people of good will, like Ahmad Lassani.”

These are the people, the prelate adds, “Who give us courage to carry on work on peace and harmony knowing that there are so many peace loving Muslims of good will who want to work with us. Perhaps meeting more often we will be able to have a more concrete impact.”

The Muslim leader also condemned the death threats issued by fundamentalists, against the Christians who are a minority in the country. Urging not to force conversion on poor Christians, the Muslim leader said, "Force and violence is not acceptable and can not bring any positive change but spread hate among masses. I myself have faced threats for these interfaith activities and will continue the struggle."

The scholar even attacked the misuse of blasphemy laws in the country, which is used for personal and political issues, to bind the Christians. "This is a total ‘Taliban’ mentality and we condemn this strongly," said Lassani.

Muslims make up 97.6%, Hindus 1.5% and Christians 1.7% in Pakistan. 70% of the Christian population is the poorest portion of the society.