Muslims and Christians in Long Island, New York, came together to share festive season and interfaith relations with hundreds of members of the community, CBS Local reported.

“When we join our Christian brothers and sisters for Christmas, this is a message of love and peace which we should all believe in the universal message,” said Dr. Isma Chaudry of the Islamic Center.

“With so much hate going on and lack of tolerance for people who are different from me or you, it’s so important that we see families getting together who are of different traditions,” said church volunteer Rose Walker.

The Wednesday celebration is an annual event organized by the Westbury United Methodist Church partnered with the Islamic Center of Long Island to celebrate what different faiths have in common.

Volunteers from both groups cooperated to serve struggling neighbors, delivering a warm welcome and warm meal.

“I think it’s really important that we give back to the community,” said Dr. Uzma Syed.

Common Ground

In 2010, the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) reported that the number of Muslims in the State of New York reached 392,953 people. According to the 2014 report of the Pew Research Center, Muslims represented 2% of the total population of New York State.

Muslims believe in Jesus as one of the great Prophets of God and that he was born miraculously, conceived with no father, to his mother, Mary, but Muslims believe that he is not Son of God, because God begets not nor is He begotten

While Muslims regard Jesus as a holy prophet, most do not celebrate his birthday, a date historians note could not have been in December at all.