In the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, Muslim families gathered Wednesday at the National Mosque to celebrate the start of Eid, an epa journalist on the scene reported.
Though the mosque isn't the largest in the country, it is regarded as one of the most important mosques by most Malaysians.
About 3,000 people went there to pray, including many foreign workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Myanmar, who reportedly looked happy that they could celebrate Eid even though they're far from their families.
Muslims in Indonesia Wednesday began celebrations marking the end of Ramadan and came down to Sunda Kelapa port in Jakarta to pray.
About 1,000 people, mostly families from neighborhoods near Sunda Kelapa in north Jakarta, gathered near where tradit ional boats are anchored at the port.
The atmosphere was upbeat, with local vendors selling large animal balloons to parents, who gave them to their children.
Kneeling on mats they placed on the ground, devotees prayed facing west, in the direction of the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
The number of people who attended morning prayers at the port was lower than last year, when about 2,500 showed up, partly because some nearby slums including Pasar Ikan were demolished a few months ago and its residents relocated elsewhere in the capital.
In the northwestern Indonesian city of Banda Aceh, about 5,000 local Muslims braved the rain to pray at the Al Makmur Mosque, the second largest mosque in the city behind the main Raya Baiturrahman mosque, which is now under construction, an epa journalist reported.
Al Makmur was rebuilt with the assistance of the government of Oman after it was damaged in the 2004 tsunami.
On a normal day, if Al Makmur is fu ll, people would pray in the mosque's parking lot, but the rain forced people to go inside the mosque, or stay at home.
During the prayer service, the Imam told worshippers that brotherhood among humanity is the way to secure peace in the world, as he condemned the recent bombings in Medina, Saudi Arabia and in Surakarta in Indonesia.
The Philippines, unlike its neighbors, has a mostly Catholic population, and members of the Muslim minority gathered Wednesday morning at a major park in Manila to mark Eid.
More than 1,000 Muslims met and prayed at the Quirino grandstand, inside Rizal Park, a traditional site in Manila for political, religious and civic gatherings.
Every year, Muslims reportedly meet there to pray and celebrate Eid.
Following the prayers, devotees ate food spread out on the ground in a picnic style.
More people came to the park for Eid this year compared to last year, with many Muslims from South Asia, Africa and the Middle East a mong them.
Source: Muslims in Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines Celebrate Eid
No comments:
Post a Comment