Monday morning at Colina Del Sol Park in City Heights, Muslims from across San Diego came together.
It was one of many events in the county where Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.
Abdullahi Shane and Ahmad Mahmuod are volunteers that helped plan the event.
“We’re commemorating Eid al-Fitr, which is one of our two holidays as Muslims. We are celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan in which we fasted 30 days,” Mahmuod said. “We’ve prayed, gave lots of charity and have connected with our community, and brotherhood and sisterhood. And so, today’s one of the biggest days of our year.”
Eid al-Fitr always includes prayer, family, friends, food and gifts.
It’s also a time for Muslims to break their fast, which lasts from sunrise to sunset throughout the month of Ramadan.
“So what we do is right after prayer, we go with family and friends, take pictures, eat some good food, pass out some gifts — money,” Shane said. “Just have a good time — dedicate this day to family and friends … and whatever you're going through it's just a day where you can sit back, relax and have some fun.”
Many families go to amusement parks, do arts and crafts, and celebrate with music and dancing, according to Mahmuod.
“It's a day where folks take work off, folks do not go to school as we did not go to school today. So it’s really a community,” the UC Berkeley student said. “So if you see a fellow Muslim let them know, ‘Eid Mubarak [Blessed Feast].’ Give to your neighbors, come over and celebrate with us as well because we love our non-Muslims sister and brother counterparts.”
Mahmuod said Eid al-Fitr is a three day celebration full of fun, but it’s still a bittersweet moment as it signals the end of a month that fosters kindness and community.
“For so many non-Muslims, they think that when Ramadan ends that we’re happy because we can go back to eating and drinking and doing the activities that we did before,” he said. “But what they fail to realize is our hearts are yearning for a longer Ramadan because the month is truly spent in a very beautiful way that can not be encompassed in words.”
The second holiday for Muslims is Eid al-Adha, which will be celebrated this year in July.
