Muslims from across Canada gathered to celebrate `Eid Al-Adha for the first time after two years of COVID-19 restrictions.
Getting back to normal, Assunnah Muslims Association in Ottawa hosted its annual Eid al-Adha bazaar and festival.
The first in person celebration since COVID pandemic was held on Saturday at the Mosque of Mercy, offering vendors and food stalls, as well as a bouncy castle outside, CBC News reported.
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`Eid Al-Adha, or “Feast of Sacrifice”, marks the end of the hajj season and is one of the two most important Islamic celebrations, together with `Eid Al-Fitr.
`Eid begins with special prayers to mark the day.
A financially-able Muslim sacrifices a single sheep or goat or shares with six others in sacrificing a camel or cow as an act of worship during the four-day `Eid Al-Adha celebrations.
Syed Pirzada, president of the Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (Henrike Wilhelm/CBC)
Happiness in Newfoundland
Muslims from Newfoundland and Labrador also came together in St. John’s Saturday to celebrate `Eid Al-Adha.
The Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador organized a morning prayer and afternoon activities at the Techniplex sports complex.
“Everybody is happy. Our community is coming together,” association’s president, Syed Pirzada, told CBC News on Saturday.
“A lot of people are travelling from different parts of the island.”
After a forced two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, Pirzada said it was important to make the celebration a safe and positive event.
“Being the sole representative of Muslims of Newfoundland and Labrador, it is our duty and our obligation to make such arrangements so that people can perform their rituals in a safe environment,” he said.
“There’s no way we can accommodate this many people in our own mosque. So, we want to have our own big … place where we can accommodate our own people,” he said.
There are about 1,053,945 Muslims in Canada. This has been shown to increase every census (10 years).
A majority of the Muslims in Canada follow Sunni Islam, and a minority of them follow Shiite Islam.
The Muslim population in Newfoundland and Labrador is over 2000 people.