EID-UL-FITR FEEDING | COOKING 2025 | 30th March | CALLIES RUGBY FIELD | NOLL AVENUE | RYLANDS ESTATE
Ramadaan is about caring and sharing and that is exactly what Nakhlistan stands for.
In 1984, Shukoor Mowzer and 2 friends realized that in the Athlone area where they were living, some of their community members did not have food for Eid Celebrations and this is how Nakhlistan was born. 2 pots of food were cooked with donations from family and friends. Three years ago Shukoor Mowzer passed on, however, his legacy continues through Nakhlistan!
Today, 42 years later, Nakhlistan will cook 183 x 130lt pots of Aknie to feed over 92 000 of the less fortunate in the Western Cape, on the day of Eid-ul-Fitr. That is why the name Nakhlistan was chosen. It is a Persian word which means ‘oasis and sustenance’.
Nakhlistan pioneered the cooking of these huge pots of food on a wood fire and is so pleased to see how other organizations are following suit.
Nakhlistan is Muslim based and caters for all the needy in the Western Cape, no matter which religious or cultural background.
Muslims are obliged to pay alms to the needy and during the month of Ramadaan, when Muslim’s Fast from before sunrise to after sunset, Nakhlistan is that vehicle to distribute these alms via Sponsored Food Parcels and cooking big pots of Aknie, an aromatic meat, potatoes and rice dish.
Hundreds of people come to witness this cooking phenomenon, the night before Eid-ul-Fitr. This year the moon will be sighted either on Sunday 30 March or Monday 31 March 2025. As soon as the moon is sighted, all activities at the Callies Rugby Field in Noll Avenue, Rylands Estate, shifts into gear because Eid-ul-Fitr is the next day.
The ingredients include: 4 tons of meat, 3 tons of rice, 3 tons of potatoes, 2 tons of onions, various spices and 70 000 pieces of wood, as we cook on wood fires. 200 volunteers assist with the cooking of the food.
