Iftar Cards - 50 questions for the iftar- Digital version

Dialogue cards - Iftar questions: 50 questions for during iftar.

Ramadan is a spiritual month during which fasting and contemplation are central throughout the day. At the end of the day, fasting is broken by an iftar, often done with family, friends, or acquaintances. These cards are developed to facilitate dialogue and initiate conversations during intercultural iftars with the goal of mutual understanding and connection.

Why use the iftar dialogue cards?

✅ Promotes understanding: The questions on the dialogue cards are designed to encourage people to share their own experiences and perspectives, and to listen to the experiences and perspectives of others. This can help promote understanding and empathy and enable people to better understand each other's viewpoints.

✅ Encourages commonality: The dialogue cards often contain questions related to universal themes, such as family, health, spirituality, culture, and tradition. This can help people find common ground and make connections despite their differences.

✅ Strengthens relationships: Sharing personal stories and experiences can lead to the building of meaningful relationships and a sense of connection between participants. This can help break down barriers between people and increase mutual respect and understanding

✅ Promotes inclusivity: The dialogue cards can be a useful tool in ensuring that all conversation participants have the opportunity to share their perspectives and be heard, regardless of their background or experience. This can help create an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcome and can be themselves.

Who are these cards for? They are for intercultural dialogues during iftars where Muslims and non-Muslims engage in conversations with each other. At the same time, these cards are also suitable for iftars with family and friends.

How does it work?

👉 Introduce the cards at the beginning of the iftar: It's important to introduce the cards at the beginning of the iftar so that everyone knows what's expected. Explain that the cards are designed to promote conversations and that the intention is to answer questions and share ideas with others.

👉 Make small groups: To ensure that everyone gets a chance to speak, it's a good idea to make small groups. This can be done by asking participants to divide themselves into groups of three or four people and giving each group a set of cards.

👉 Let participants take turns choosing a question: To ensure that all participants have a chance to speak, you can ask each participant to take turns choosing a card and answering the question. This can help ensure that no one is skipped and everyone gets a chance to speak.

👉 Encourage in-depth conversations: The goal of the cards is to promote in-depth conversations. So it's important to encourage participants to go into detail with their answers and share their personal experiences. This can help create a sense of connection and understanding among participants.

👉 Be respectful and inclusive: It's important to emphasize that the conversations take place in an atmosphere of respect and inclusivity. This means that participants are open to different perspectives and experiences and that they are respectful and polite in their interactions with others.

👉 Close the conversations: It's a good idea to close the conversations with a brief summary of what has been discussed and to encourage participants to exchange contact information. This can help strengthen the relationships between participants and ensure that the dialogue can continue after the iftar.

Dialogue cards developed based on real conversations.

Saber Benjah is a moderator and communication advisor with the strength to facilitate conversations between different groups. In recent years, various organizations have asked Saber to facilitate intercultural iftars as a moderator and to provide advice on designing intercultural dialogue. Based on these experiences, Saber has developed dialogue cards for iftars. Saber has also written about how to best organize business iftars.

If you have any questions, please contact saber@benjah.com.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to charity.