American Muslims in Connecticut state celebrate end of Ramadan with joyous

Wednesday 22 Jul 2015 - 10:38 Makkah mean time-6-10-1436

(Image from Islamic Association of Greater Hartford)

Connecticut, USA (IINA) - Thousands of Muslims in Connecticut USA, visited mosques around the state last Friday to celebrate the end of the holy month of Ramadan, WNPR news reported.
The holiday is called Eid al-Fitr, a joyous celebration of prayer, gift giving, and community gathering, that entails feast that can last up to three days.
At the Berlin Mosque, crowds gathered outside to take photos, hug, and exchange the greeting “Eid Mubarak,” an Arabic well-wishing meaning “blessed festival.”
While Eid al-Fitr is a day for mirth, spiritual leaders at the Berlin Mosque did not shy away from commenting on the recent shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where five U.S service men were killed.
The prayer leaders encouraged those attending to speak out against the recent attacks and to condemn them as antithetical to the principles of Islam.
“The couple of attacks were very difficult to comprehend the day before Eid,” said Dr. Reza Mansour, a Hartford hospital cardiologist, and president of the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford, an organization based at the Berlin mosque.
“The first principle of Shari’ah in Islam is the protection of life,” Mansour said. “An attack on one life is an attack on all of humanity.”
The Muslim Coalition of Connecticut (MCC), an organization Mansour helped found, has made large efforts in Connecticut to facilitate conversations with other religious groups in the state and the community at large about the fundamentals of Islam.
According to Mongi Dhaouadi, the executive director of the Connecticut Council on American Islamic Relations, there are around 100,000 American Muslims living in Connecticut.
In the United States, Eid al-Fitr is not only a day about celebrating the end of Ramadan, but also celebrating Muslim identity.
The MCC created the Eid carnival to do just that. Hosted this year at Lake Compounce two days after Eid al-Fitr, the Eid Carnival is meant to create a space for Muslim Americans to celebrate the holiday openly, and to feel safe expressing their religion in public
Over 2,000 people attended the carnival. “Muslims need a break, and that’s why we put so much effort into giving them a happy Eid,” Mansour said.
Events like the Eid carnival allow for a sense of cohesion within the Muslim community of Connecticut.
Mansour noted that the Muslim and American identities are often seen as mutually exclusive. He hopes that spiritual and community programming will help to remedy that assumption by creating an avenue for Muslims in Connecticut to talk about their religion and express themselves.
SM/IINA

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