Ethiopian Muslims on Tuesday rolled 30,000 meters of plastic sheet to host 100,000 people to break the fast on the streets of capital Addis Ababa, breaking the world record.
The gathering was also organized to show defiance to Egypt's stance against the building of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
"There were for sure more than 100,000 participants according to our calculation. We rolled out at least 30,000 meters of plastic carpet, where people sat," said Semhar Tekle, one of the organizers.
Earlier Egypt was holding the record for arranging street iftar for 7,000 people during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“This event is an indirect response to Egypt. As we break the record of street iftar, we will also break the record by building the greatest dam in Africa," said the organizer.
People sat on a five-kilometer stretch from Mexico square to Bambi in the heart of the city holding the nation's tricolor flags of green, gold, and red.
Mufti Haji Idris told the gathering that the event was aimed to show the willingness of all Ethiopians to stand in unity. He further said that maintenance of peace was vital for the common good, national unity, and progress.
"We just broke a world record, with the street iftar," Natnael Mekonen, another prominent social media activist tweeted.
Ahead of the event, young people across different faiths cleaned the streets to prepare them for the mass Iftar, the first of its kind to be held in the capital Addis Ababa.
The Addis Ababa administration had earlier disallowed organizers to conduct the iftar party at such a heavy scale. The move triggered protests on Sunday. But soon it reversed the decision.
"It should be noted how the Muslim community has expressed its grievances politely and peacefully. On behalf of myself and the city administration, I apologize for what happened yesterday [Sunday]," the deputy mayor of the city, Adanech Abebe stated.
Ahmedin Jebel, another prominent leader of the Muslim community in Ethiopia, thanked the city administration for their swift correction move.
Ethiopia prides itself to be the nation that hosted the first migration of Muslims in the 7th century. It had given refuge to the companions of the Prophet when they suffered persecution at the hands of the tribesmen in the city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia.