KARACHI: There are plastic chatais [mats] being unrolled at many pavements all over the city just a few minutes ahead of Iftar.

At Kalapul, some residents from Defence Gardens and some from Tooba Apartments have teamed up. Some are pouring sherbet syrup into big stainless steel drums, some are breaking ice slabs into smaller pieces to keep the water cool and busy, some are mixing it all.

Children are especially happy to be of help. The elders also keep them involved in the work.

Mohammad Shafiq and Inayat Ali make sure that the plates and plastic glasses are neatly lined up. One of them points across the Korangi Road where children are busy laying out the mat, plates and glasses on the footpath. “The arrangement for ladies is that side,” one is informed.

Meanwhile, the work picks up pace as Maghrib nears. A few people arrive, some with an empty dish, some with plastic shoppers. “We are not just serving, we are also distributing,” Mohammad Shafiq told Dawn.

Karachi is dotted with numerous arrangements for breaking the fast

‘Roza Iftar Kijeay’ says a banner swaying from tables being set at Sharea Faisal. At a big tea house/diner at Sindhi Muslim Society, there are people waiting to be served. There are also others who pay the manager at the counter to arrange for the Iftar of five, 10, 15 or as many persons as they want to arrange free food for from the eatery’s regular menu.

You turn to Shahrah-i-Qaideen while passing through a food street with big restaurants and burger joints that cater to the elite on either side of the road. They welcome their own clientele. Across Noorani Kabab House on Shahrah-i-Qaideen, there is another big arrangement for wayfarers to break their fast by the Hum Hain Shaheen Foundation. Today besides, the dates, water and refreshments, they are offering sabut masoor khichri [black lentil rice pulao].

And who decides the menu here? “I do,” said Emaduddin, the foundation’s chairman, adding that they don’t want to arrange for regular snacks but a wholesome dinner, which is also filling.

It is their sixth year serving and distributing Iftar at the same spot. “A friend who resides close by had mentioned that there was a need for a dastarkhwan [eating spread] here so we decided to set up our annual Iftar spread here,” he said.

“The people who stop by to break their fasts here are usually those who have to work during this time such as food delivery boys, cab drivers or other folks on the road for one reason or the other. If there are any people belonging to any other faith than Islam, they are also very welcome to break bread with us here,” Emaduddin shared, pointing out that these days the Christian community is also observing Lent.

The foundation’s District Central Secretary Rashid Jamal said that they make sure that the food they offer there is not bought from zakat money. “We have people who fund us for this purpose but we don’t want their zakat,” he said.

He also said that usually only one person funds the Iftar meal for a day. “Our financiers book a day individually with menu suggestions that we prepare with the utmost care. Sometimes, if the money is enough, we also arrange for barbecue or chicken or lamb mandi [roast or steamed meat with rice],” he added.

A little further ahead on the same road, across the PECHS Society Office, you find a row of wooden tables arranged by the small roadside businesses and nearby shops for themselves as well as whoever may be passing by. “Mohammad Irfan is lining up around 250 plates on the tables while making sure that each plate has a date, a samosa, some fritters, a piece of watermelon and papaya and a slice of cantaloupe. Nearby there are water bottles and juice boxes chilling in metal tubs full of ice. There is also flavoured milk and sherbet on offer in colourful plastic jugs which the volunteers pour into glasses.

There is much chaos as the volunteers are rushing to finish their work and the people who realise that they won’t be able to make it home in time, stop to break their fasts. But by the time the muezzin’s voice is heard from the nearby mosque minarets, there is a complete calm. All hands are raised to say a small prayer before popping a date into mouths followed by a refreshing sip of cool water or beverage.

Alhamdulillah. May God Almighty accept all fasts and prayers.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2026