Ifrah Hassan 2nd left with particiapants at the Iftar
Community leader Ifrah Hassan 2nd left with participants at the Iftar

4th Annual Muslim Youth Iftar

By Guedio Abdourahman

Ottawa- On Saturday, June 18th, over 150 youth and community partners participated in the 4th Annual Muslims Youth Iftar hosted by Canadian Somali Mothers Association in collaboration with Go Halal or Go Home youth group at Albion-Heatherington Recreation Centre.

In addition, this year the chosen theme was “Restore Hope” it was all about enriching the lives of the youth and reminding them that by having faith by being hopeful you can learn to understand that nothing is impossible to overcome.  Reassuring that faith is something that comes from within, therefore everyone has what it takes within him or her to get past any situation. Promptly, acknowledging the greatness of helping others and provide everyone another opportunity in which they could look at life, hence from the theme, the speakers wanted to assist in restoring hope for our community.

This year’s Annual Youth Iftar had two main speakers, Ahmed Sadiq and Youssef Berrada.  John Fraser MPP for Ottawa South was as well one the guest speakers.  For entertainment, we had the Ottawa well loved poet Husam Alaghbari , also known as “Poetic Wizdom”.

Our first speaker Ahmed Sadiq and second speakers Youssef Berrada both emphasizing the importance of not losing hope stretch beyond your normal self and reach new heights and to try to become a better person and to always seek knowledge whether is in education or in religion. 

Our first speaker Ahmed Sadiq grew up in Canada. He has also completed his BA from Carleton University from the Human Rights field faculty of Arts & holds a diploma from Algonquin College in Social Work. He travels around the world and lectures internationally and is known to give a message of simplicity to his audience around the world.Our other main speaker Youssef Berrada is a prominent public speaker in Ottawa, who gives spiritual and motivational lectures throughout the city and Internationally. He graduated from McGill University with a BA in Architecture and BA in science.

“I am truly honored to have been a part of a dynamic and passionate group this year that put together another 4th Annual Muslim Youth Iftar event this past Ramadan. This year I was fortunate enough to work with a strong group who had a clear vision of forming a get together of the Ottawa community in the holy month of Ramadan. Thus I was pleased to see so many young bright faces, consisting of men and women from different corners of the city who passionately wanted to listen to the lectures and break their fast. We had many types of dishes this year and plenty of food for our guests of over 150 youth who came out. The amount of work that was put together and the attendance of the crowd both showed how we could do so much once we join forces as a community. Furthermore, this is a great sign that it’s only the beginning of more success to come in the future.” -Ahmed sadiq.

” I had the pleasure of attending the 4th annual youth Iftar and it was a success. The topics chosen were very relevant to the problems that the youth are facing today, especially young Somali boys. Whether it was the poetry or the reminders that Ahmed Sadiq and Youssef Berrada gave, everything said hit home. One thing that was done differently this year was, the event was exclusively for the youth; no mothers or fathers were allowed, which I thought was perfect idea! I look forward to attending the 5th Youth Iftar dinner “ – Annual Youth Iftar participant.

This year 4th Annual Youth Iftar couldn’t be successful without the help organizers and amazing volunteers. A huge thanks to the Canadian Somali Mothers Association and Go Home or go Halal team for their dedicated work for the community.

Photo credit: Faisa Omer