BEFORE maghrib prayers every day during Ramadan, the compound of Masjid Jamek Shaik Eusoff in Jalan Air Itam Penang, fills slowly with people, including the underprivileged, waiting to break fast together.
They include Muslims and non-Muslims with some arriving after a long day of work and still in their uniforms.
Among them are the elderly, children and parents.
The buka puasa programme, a community outreach effort by the mosque, provides free food to residents of the area regardless of background.
Mosque chairman Yusof Yaacob, 44, said the initiative started on Feb 17 and drew a steady crowd every evening.
“We serve about 250 people from different races daily,” he told StarMetro.
Yusof said they would normally dine in a covered area with fans and tables within the mosque carpark.
“People get to mingle and this fosters better understanding and unity.”
Fridays and Saturdays are special as mosque committee members have time to cook the meals themselves.
“On weekends, we source the ingredients and prepare the meals in our kitchen.
“We even source our seafood directly from fishermen,” he said, adding that the meals were served in large trays.
All this is made possible through public donations, he said.
“It is our obligation to give back to the needy.”
Since the 15th day of Ramadan, the mosque also started serving daily sahur to about 150 people.
“We have budgeted about RM85,000 for the meals including sahur and buka puasa like bubur lambuk and ginger tea.”
Yusof said the community kitchen initiative began in 2022 and had grown into a regular outreach programme beyond Ramadan with food served to around 500 people every Thursday and Friday.
