Celebrating Christmas and Mawlid in Rochdale town centre

The Rochdale Borough Multi Faith Partnership collaborates with Near Neighbours and The Nehemiah Foundation to celebrate Christmas and Mawlid

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Rochdale’s Multi Faith Partnership teamed up with neighbourhood and community worker Shanaz Mukhtar to mark the Birth of Jesus and the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him).

This year is a rare occasion whereby Muslims worldwide will be celebrating the birth of Prophet Mohammed globally on New Year's Eve.

This is the first time in many years that the celebrations of the world largest growing faiths are back-to-back.

Shanaz has been working with Near Neighbours and The Nehemiah Foundation to help bring people together through social action projects.

Shanaz said: “We wanted to mark it, and show respect to both faith groups. Jesus is really important for Christians globally as is Prophet Mohammed to Muslims. It was really nice to come together and mark our respect together.

“We gave season’s greetings cards to shoppers, which had quotes from the Bible and from Islamic teachings from Prophet Mohammed about loving others and caring for each other.

“People were really pleased to receive them along with free chocolate and we told them about the Multi Faith Partnership.

“The Multi Faith Partnership meets every month on the second Tuesday of each month and we are always welcoming people of all faiths to join us.

“Robin, Anni and the team work really hard to bring people together and are really inspiring for me.

“We would like to wish everyone in Rochdale Milad-un-Nabi Mubarak and Merry Christmas.”