Hiiraan Online
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
London, UK (HOL) - Eid Al Fitr was celebrated all over the world by Muslims who welcomed the end of the holy month of Ramadan. In England, where nearly 3 million Muslims live and call home according to the Office for National Statistics, Eid was welcomed in all of Great Britain’s major cities like the capital London, Birmingham, Bristol and Glasgow.
As Monday was a week day many Muslims took the day off work to spend time with their families and friends. Eid prayers were held all over the country and in the key cities where there is a large population of Muslims like London, Bristol and Birmingham, most mosques held two different prayer sessions to accommodate the rising populations needs in these urban centres.
Families, children and adults of differing attire from their own home nations congregated in all of the mosques as if to celebrate the diversity of the religion despite its unifying messages of respect, tolerance and worship.
"Today is a wonderful day and mashallah I will celebrate with my family," said Mohamed Ali from Birmingham who took the day off work to enjoy Eid. "There are many Muslims in Birmingham and it was easy to get a day off work because my boss understands."
An unlucky man who had to go to work today was Abdulqadir Mohamud who works in a private laboratory in London. He was able to get the early part of the morning off to pray but had to go back to work immediately afterwards. When he spoke to HOL he was with his family with whom he was going to part until 6pm yesterday evening when he finished work.
"As you can see it is hard having Eid in London due to work but it is still a special day for us," smiled Abdulqadir. His wife kindly mocked that she would save some food for him as she was expecting both of their family members to have lunch at their home this afternoon.
Eid day is a day of activities and fun for children and this year all over the UK, mosques, community organisations and individual families have got together to organise trips and fun and games for the children in the community. One of the centres which took children to a theme park in Bristol was AlBaseera mosque.
"Eid day is hard on a week day and when you have many children it is hard to take all of them to town but we are grateful to community groups and mosques who helped us with this," said Asha Mohamud, a single mother with four children in Bristol.
Those who were not lucky enough to attend an organised session of play spent their days with their families in the city centres of Great Britain’s main cities. Many Muslim families were shopping, eating and relaxing in major shopping centres like Westfield’s in London, Cabot Circus in Bristol and the Bull Ring in Birmingham.
Eid is a time of renewal, planning and wishing for Muslims. This was what 10 year old Yahye Nur was doing when HOL caught up with him in London's Westfield shopping centre.
"I wish it was Eid everyday because I will be happy forever and get lots of presents and sweets," said young Yahye who had lollipops in both hands. With Eid al Adha around the corner in October, it may seem as though his wish will come true sooner than later.