Interfaith family look forward to celebrating Easter
The couple stresses the importance of mutual respect when living as an interfaith couple as well as to be open-minded.
POLOKWANE – Ahead of the Easter weekend, the Polokwane Observer spoke with a couple who live as an interfaith family in Westenburg to find out how big holidays such as this one are celebrated.
The woman is Christian and belongs to the Roman Catholic church while her husband is Muslim and practices Islam.
“Before Easter approaches, we have Ash Wednesday and go into fasting and prayer for 40 days,” the woman told the Observer.
The long weekend starts off with Good Friday, which is celebrated annually by Christians as a remembrance of the day Jesus Christ was crucified, while Easter Sunday commemorates the resurrection of Jesus and the victory of life over death.
As a Muslim and a Christian living together, there needs to be mutual respect for both religions, says the couple.
“We had a talk about how we can best respect each other with our different religious backgrounds because in the eyes of God, we are all one, so irrespective of our beliefs we know that we are equal and no religion is superior to another,” the woman said.
The couple say they had an agreement to which church they would want to get married in and the religion that their children would follow.
“Every year we celebrate Easter starting at church then come back home to break our fast and enjoy pickled fish and hot cross buns with family and friends. My husband also joins in on the celebration.”
The man says he occasionally visits the Roman Catholic church but remains Muslim.
“The Catholic faith is very traditional and because it was different from my faith and upbringing. I had to be keen to learn how things are done in that church,” he said.
He added that he appreciates the religion and respects the traditional way things are done in the Catholic church as it relates to many of the ways that society should treat each other.
The couple stresses the importance of mutual respect when living as an interfaith couple as well as to be open-minded and always be clear which religion the kids going to follow so that you give your children a grounded home and stability and freedom to let them choose their own faith one day.
