Mangalore / Udupi/ Kasargod August 19: Hundreds of thousands of Muslims in coastal districts of Karnataka and Kerala celebrated the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr on Sunday with traditional fervour and devotion.
The joyful Muslims, many of them wearing the conventional kurta-pyjamas, thronged various Masjids to offer Eid prayers, making the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Eid-gah Masjid in Light House Hill, Masjidunnoor in Hampankatta, Taqwa Masjid in Pumpwell, Ibrahim Khaleel Masjid near State Bank and Kachi Memon Masjid in Bunder were overcrowded with devotees. Eid prayers were also held at Central Juma Masjid in and Salsabeel Masjid in Ullal and Huda Masjid in Thokkottu.
In most of the Masjids the devotees after observing the Eid prayers, prayed for communal harmony and welfare of the country as well. They also prayed for the victims of violence and barbarism in Assam, Myanmar, Palestine, Syria and other parts of the world.
Donning new clothes, Muslims visited houses of their relatives, where they were treated with special sweet dishes. Platters of a variety of delicious cuisines were prepared in Muslim households.
Children dressed in festival attire added colour to the celebrations. People wished Eid Mubarak and hugged each other as a large number of shutterbugs tried to capture the poignant scenes of the festival prayers and greetings.
A large number of women devotees also offered Eid prayer in some of the Masjids. “The number of women participating in Eid prayer has been continuously increasing since last few years thanks to the Islamic awakening in coastal Karnataka”, said Maulana Mujahid Ansari, a cleric.
Gratitude
Mangalore City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh and Deputy Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly visited the Eid-gah Masjid and exchanged greetings with Muslim brethren. The duo expressed gratitude to Muslim leaders for promoting peace and harmony during festivities.
In his Eid message Mangalore Qazi Twaqa Ahmed Mulsliyar exhorted the Muslims not to forget the lesser privileged people and needy during the festivities. “We have a social responsibility towards the poor and needy. As long as we attend to their problems, God’s blessings will continue to shower upon us,” he said.
He said Eid-ul-Fitr is a special gift of Allah to those who keep month long fast and engage themselves in prayers and spiritual cleanliness as per His commandments.
At Jamia Masjid Kudroli, Mufti Abdul Mannan delivered the Eid Khutbah and led the Eid prayers. In his address, he said that the joy of Eid in the true sense is for those who have managed to please Allah by spending the days of Ramadan in the right spirit. He advised the Muslims to include the poor and their non-Muslim friends and neighbours and fellow countrymen in sharing the joy of Eid.
Praying for the victims of violence in Assam, he urged the Muslim gathering on the occasion not to allow any untoward incidents to take place and take law in own hands.
Seemanth Kumar Singh, Mangalore city police Commissioner, visited the mosque and exchanged greetings with Muslim brethren.
Maulana Abdul Azeez of Masjidunnoor reminding the Muslims of their individual and collective responsibilities urged them to follow Quran and Sunnah.
In rural areas of coastal Karnataka and Kerala too the festival was celebrated with traditional fervour and gaiety.
Security beefed up
Meanwhile, police units in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kasargod districts have beefed up security in the areas where these masjids are located, particularly in and around the cities. Police constables were also seen keeping vigil in some of the masjids.
Seemant Kumar Singh said that peace-meetings were arranged in some places ahead of the Eid celebrations with the intention of establishing harmony and strengthening relationship between communities.
He said that additional force form Karnataka State Reserve Police, Home Guard and District Armed Reserve Police have been deployed in the limits of Commissionerate as part of precautionary measures.
Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Goyal said that he had directed all the police stations in his jurisdiction to take necessary measures to maintain peace.
CM’s greetings
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has extended his greetings to Muslims on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
“This festival symbolises joy and thanks giving. Let the celebrations of this festival bring peace, prosperity, contentment and happiness to the people of the State,” Mr Shettar said in his message.
Comments
While celebrating EID we should remember the message of Ramadhan in which we abstained from all permissible(Halal) during fasting hours. Similarly we should abstain from PROHIBITED (Haram) during EID and thereafter.
blessing of Allah
fill your life
with peace,
joy and prosperity!
Eid Mubarak!
RSS feed for comments to this post.