The Muslim community of Lloydminster has come together to celebrate the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
“Eid-ul-Fitr” is a celebration for over one billion Muslims around the world, as one of the two festivals in Islam that marks the end of Ramadan. Member of the Muslim Community Shahroze Afridi says the celebration means a lot to him.
“It’s because the month of Ramadan our goal is to get more close to God and get more spiritual and fasting helps a lot, it’s the key. We celebrate this month once we get closer to God and everything we celebrate all of this with Eid.”
During Ramadan, Muslims do not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset in order to grow their spirituality, as well as an understanding of what it is like to be hungry.
“It actually brings him or her to realize the hunger that people face when they cannot afford their meal,” says Imam of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Lloydminster Mansoor Azeem. “A lot of people they cannot feed their children and feed their families.”
Azeem says they started their Eid with a prayer then a sermon and finished with a special prayer for those who have raised their spirituality at the Mosque.
“It eliminates the differences between people, makes them greet each other, embraces each other and come to know each other. The newcomers they establish a new connection with the old fellas as well.”
As part of the celebration, it is tradition to hug each person three times to show love towards each other. Another major part of this Eid is charity.
“Every single member before coming to the mosque and before praying the Eid prayer they have to do some charity and this charity is donated to the poor,” says Azeem.
Muslims will continue to celebrate throughout the day by visiting their friends and families, as well as eating sweets and having a special meal.