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Eid celebrations follow Ramadan holy month for area Muslim families

Eid celebration in early May completes Ramadan holy month

LAC LA BICHE - After a month of fasting from sunrise to sunset, observing a period of self-reflection, prayers, and donating, the holiest month for over 1.5 billion Muslims around the world ended last Sunday. Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar ended on May 1 and to mark the end of the 30-day observation, Muslims around the world celebrated Eid-al Fitr last Monday. 

For the Lac La Biche community — known to have one of the largest per-capita populations of Muslim people in Canada —   Eid-al Fitr was an opportunity to not only celebrate their commitment to Islam throughout Ramadan but to celebrate with family, friends and the community, said Mysoon Tarrabain, President of the Lac La Biche Muslim Women’s Association. 

To kick off the festivities, the local Muslim community gathered for Eid prayer at the Al Kareem Mosque in Lac La Biche. After COVID restrictions halted gatherings for the last two years, including Ramadan’s nightly ‘Taraweeh’ prayer scheduled daily after fasts, traditional gatherings were back, said Tarrabain. 

“It was a rewarding experience to participate this year and that we were able to go back to our mosque, we were able to share prayers together,” which included a recitation of the Quran from cover to cover during the ‘Taraweeh’ prayers throughout the month that brought community members closer to God, she said. 

On the night of Eid, youth and families were also having group activities in the Lac La Biche Bold Center recreation facility, playing family games and activities.  

“The kids had an activity organized at the Bold Center at the field house where the kids had the option of going to play games with one another and families were invited to use the area and have a pizza party.” 

A sense of community  

It was wonderful to see families gathering together after two years of restrictions, said the association's President ,who has been serving for more than 20 years now. 

“For me personally, I really missed that and it was such a nice heartwarming feeling to have people come to our homes, sitting together and visiting,” Tarrabain said. “It was a really nice feeling for the community and it brought us closer together.” 

Losses 

While Muslims in the area were able to participate and commit to Ramadan’s obligations, which is one of the five key pillars of Islamic faith for Muslims, deaths in the Lac La Biche Muslim community during Ramadan created a heightened awareness to family and the spirit, she said. 

“We had quite a few deaths in the community so we had a very low-key observance,” she said with loved ones visiting members who have gone during the holy month again on Eid-al Fitr.“We had community prayers in the morning and people paying respects in the graveyard for people that are no longer with us and people that we lost recently,” said Tarrabain. 

During the difficult time in the midst of Ramadan, community members—both Muslim and not—paid their respects to 69-year-old Helma Hussein, 67-year-old Hajar Moghrabi and  60-year-old Berheem Paul Fyith who passed, she says allowing the entire community to heal with the loss of longtime residents. 

Learned experiences 

While the month of Ramadan has passed, continuing to support community organizations, donating and keeping the Islamic faith at the forefront throughout the year for the Muslim community is the goal, she said. 

“We hope to continue to be positive community members and that we continue to help and follow the teachings of our religion without any hesitation,” she said, adding that all community members are welcome to visit the mosque to find out more about the Muslim faith that has been part of the Lac La Biche community for more than 100 years. “I’m hoping that one day people from our community whether they are Muslim or not they can reach out. We are always happy to have people come in and participate with us.” 

 

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