Key Takeaways
- Zakariyya Jaa’me Mosque hosted the interfaith Iftar in partnership with the Bolton Council of Mosques, welcoming 130 guests alongside hundreds of regular worshippers.
- Guests received a full guided tour of the mosque, including its recently renovated prayer rooms, ablution facilities, and mortuary.
- Bolton Council Leader Nick Peel, Mayor David Chadwick, and Councillor Rabiya Jiva were among the prominent figures in attendance.
Zakariyya Jaa’me Mosque, Bolton’s largest mosque, threw open its doors on Saturday for an interfaith Iftar that brought together over 130 guests from across the town’s faith communities and beyond.
Organised in partnership with the Bolton Council of Mosques, the evening combined a guided tour of the mosque’s facilities, a talk on the spiritual significance of fasting, and a shared breaking of the fast — creating an evening that placed understanding and togetherness at its centre.
The event was conceived as a bridge between communities. Imteyaz Ali of the Bolton Council of Mosques explained the thinking behind it.
“It is a way of inviting people from different faiths and people of no faith to get a good understanding of mosque settings,” he said.
For many guests, it was their first time inside a mosque. The evening gave them a chance to engage with a space that holds deep significance for Bolton’s Muslim community — not as observers from a distance, but as welcomed guests sitting down to share a meal at the close of the day’s fast.
The evening began with a guided tour led by one of the mosque’s volunteers, taking guests through each level of the building.
The first stop was the recently renovated main prayer room on the upper floor, its centrepiece a large central dome inscribed with Arabic prayers — a striking reminder of the artistry woven into Islamic architecture.
The downstairs prayer room, also recently renovated, featured light fixtures carrying their own inscriptions — one bearing the 99 names of Allah, the other carrying the words of a traditional Muslim prayer.
For guests encountering these spaces for the first time, the detail and care embedded in the design offered a glimpse into the spiritual world the mosque serves.
Descending to the lowest level, the tour moved into more practical but equally meaningful territory.
Guests visited the ablution room, where worshippers perform ritual cleansing before prayer, and the mosque’s mortuary — a facility operating under a formal agreement with local hospitals.
Bodies are brought from hospital to the mosque, washed according to Islamic tradition, and prepared for burial.
The guide walked guests through the process with care, offering an honest and respectful window into one of the most private aspects of Muslim community life.
A Talk on Fasting and Community
Following the tour, guests gathered in the first-floor prayer room to hear from Sheikh Imran Ullah, a Canadian imam whose talk centred on two themes — the value of fasting as a practice of contemplation and self-discipline, and the vital importance of community cohesion in a diverse society.
Prominent Bolton Figures Add Their Voice
The evening drew a number of Bolton’s most prominent public figures. Council Leader Nick Peel addressed the gathering with a short speech praising the community for its commitment to fostering togetherness across different backgrounds.
Councillor Rabiya Jiva and Mayor David Chadwick were also present.
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