Organisers of a festival celebrating Islam in Sheffield built bridges of understanding about their faith with discussions, theatre and poetry. The event at Mount Pleasant Park, Sharrow, gave people an insight into contemporary Muslim life with a chance to discuss spiritual issues, culture and religion. Talks included a focus on what Islam teaches about jihad, meaning _to struggle’ in Arabic and not _holy war’, and the faith’s stance on terrorism, with questions and answer sessions. For those interested how the religion is practised there was a chance earlier in the week to discover what the Friday prayer is about, what is preached and there was a chance to listen to a sermon at the newly-built Madina Masjid. Other issues discussed at the festival were around Islamic finance and an explanation about why Islam forbids interest, and what the alternatives are when dealing with money.
