The traditional iftar dinner hosted by KUDEM and IFIS&IZ took place with great interested and enthusiasm by the invited guests. The founding director of IFIS&IZ honorable Prof. Dr. Hüseyin İlker Çınar attended to the iftar dinner. Among the geuests were council members of the Mannheim municipal Mrs. Marianne Bade (SDP) and Ms. Nazan Kapan (SPD), pastor Dr. Joachim Vette (oecumenic educational center santclara), in place of the police presidency detective chief inspector Ralf Maudanz, Prof. Dr. Yasar Sarikaya (University of Gießen), general secretary of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany Abdessamed El-Yazidi, as well as representative of religious groups, business, and policy.
The program started with a recitation of the holy Qur’an followed by a welcoming speech of Dr. Sinan Özdemir, who welcomed the guests in place of KUDEM and IFIS&IZ. In his welcoming speech, he gave an overview of the current activities and projects of KUDEM and the IFIS&IZ: the scientific library for Islamic studies has reached 37,000 books and will be further expanded, a new library for children with targeting 15,000 books to support reading and learning is going to start soon, since October 2016 over 70 students study classic-Arabic in the IFIS&IZ al-Ghazzali Academy from an academic perspective with a European context. After the 6-year study the students of the IFIS&IZ al-Ghazzali Academy will be able to read, understand, and to interpret the holy texts of Islam. Mrs. Bade and pastor Dr. Vetter thanked in their welcoming speech for the invitation and congratulated the guests to the holy month of Ramadan. Accompanied by a live nay (reed flute) and a oud (short-neck lute) act the guests enjoyed the meals in the special arranged conference room of KUDEM in a festive atmosphere.
We express our thanks to the guests who followed our invitation and especially to the members of KUDEM who made with their support and engagement this evening possible. KUDEM and IFIS&IZ wish that the upcoming Night of Destiny may dignifiedly committed.