Eid and Ramadan celebration in the world
by Theleaders-Online | June 5, 2019 5:19 am
In Syria, this year’s Eid – ul – Fitr celebration is even more significant as refugees who moved out to neighbouring Turkey are making their way back to their hometown such as in Aleppo after the downfall of the Islamic State in the region.
The IS regime fell following a joint effort by the Kurdish defence forces and US troops.
About 1,500 Syrians are crossing the border daily. It would be the first Eid celebration after a decade of moving to Turkey for most of the refugees.
In Japan, the celebration of Eid is often overlooked as Muslims constitute a small minority.
Eid festivals are held at a number of locations in various parts of the country. There are an estimated 80 mosques around Japan of varying size and many are said to be comparatively small.
One of the largest places of Islamic worship is Tokyo Camii, located in Shibuya Ward, accessible via the nearest station, Yoyogi Uehara on the Odakyu Line.
The Ottoman-style mosque in the heart of the metropolis adjoins the Turkish Culture Center and can accommodate around 1,200 worshipers.
Eid prayers will also be held at the Ja’me Masjid mosque in Yokohama.
In Norway and other Scandinavian countries, fasting during Ramadan itself is a major challenge due to longer day time.
This forces the Muslims to fast longer than 17 hours on a daily basis for a month.
There are some places where the sun does not set at all at certain times of year — such as Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean that is bathed in 24-hour light from April to August, or the city of Tromsø on the mainland to the south.
Under these circumstances, Muslims are given three options. They can fast according to the time set in Mecca.
Alternately they can also fast according to the time of the nearest city that does not have continuous daylight.
The third option is to fast according to local time.
As for Eid celebration it is a challenge for Muslims to introduce Muslim traditions to their offspring since Muslims are a minority.
There are trends indicating that young Muslim groups in northern Europe are increasingly clubbing together to celebrate the end of Ramadan.
Muslims in New Zealand would be celebrating Eid as they reflect on their lives in view of the Christchurch mosque attack on March 15 that resulted in the death of 51 victims.
“An imam reminded us that we should take on the opportunities that the others in Christchurch had not been given,” NZ Eid Day chairman Javed Dadabhai said, in reference to the 51 people who were killed in the March 15 mosque shootings.
“Christchurch is a reminder that we must make the most of every day because you don’t know whether you’d have a next year.”
Dadabhai said for many Muslims, this year’s event would also be a celebration of “how NZ has come together in support of our communities”.
“We went through a period of mourning and reflection, so Eid will be our time for celebrations and thanksgiving,” he said.
This Eid celebration in Pakistan is a long one this year as the Interior Ministry announced June 4 to 7 as public holidays to usher the arrival of Shawal which gives Pakistanis a total of six days of break.
Pakistan is also split within the country along geographical lines, with residents of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province, located on the border with Afghanistan and dominated by ethnic Pashtuns, celebrating Eid on Tuesday.
The new moon was apparently spotted in North Waziristan, while the rest of Pakistan will celebrate on Wednesday.
Conflicts continue to discolor the Eid celebration in Afghanistan.
Shiites were told by clerics that the moon was not seen so Ramadan would not begin for them until Wednesday. Sunnis however are celebrating Tuesday.
The Taliban who are Sunni hardliners, have said there will be no end to fighting while U.S. and NATO troops are still in Afghanistan.
Afghanis would be enjoying a three day break.
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