Muslims are joining Christians by giving up their favourite things for the next forty days.
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The initiative was started by Bassel Riche, an American Muslim who wants to challenge negative stereotypes of Islam.
He told Buzzfeed News that the campaign was particularly important in the wake of the recent tragedies in Paris, Copenhagen and Chapel Hill.
"I think the root problem with anti Islamic sentiment in America and the rest of the world is [a] lack of understanding about Islam. The amount of misinformation about Islam that is presented to people every day creates [these] negative views" he said.
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Since he started the campaign using the hashtag #Muslims4Lent, he’s had support from Muslims all over the world.
Basel said the idea came from his time in College, where Muslims and Christian students would hold ‘Fast-a-thons’ .
“I would see people of differing faiths that opened their hearts and minds to us and our beliefs. It was a few years later that I decided that it is our duty to do the same for them and the beliefs that they hold dear,” he said.
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