Festival celebrates Eid, the end of the month of Ramadan

With bright lights, balloons, a bouncy castle and buoyant joy, the Eid festival held Saturday brought kids and adults to the Worcester Islamic Center mosque on a cloudy day for games, food, and embracing family and friends, illuminating the culmination of the month of Ramadan.

There were games to test knowledge of Islam including a trivia contest in which participants shot up hands and shouted out answers with pride and elation. The right answers were rewarded with chocolate.

The questions ranged in levels of difficulty. What is the pledge of faith that Muslims take? The answer, "Shahadah," from the Arabic word for witness: "I testify that there is no god but God, and Mohammed is his messenger."

What is the journey Mohammed and his followers took from the city of Mecca to Medina? Answer: "The hijrah, whose commemoration equates to the dates June 21 to July 2, 622 on the Julian or western calendar."

Participants could further test their knowledge with a game of Bingo and a singing lesson emphasized the value of coming together as a community of faith.

'A complete way of life'

Among those who attended were Saheb Ishmael and his daughters, Khadjiah, 4, and Aisha, 2.

"This is a festival," said Ishmael. Asked what activities the family had enjoyed, Ishmael said, "Almost everything," including horse rides and the bouncy castle.

"It's all that we need. It's a time of joy," said Ishmael. "Maybe I'm biased, but Islam to me is a complete way of life."

Although the festival was for having fun, as they grow up, Ishmael's greatest wish is for his daughters to discover Islam's deepest meanings. "That is my hope for both my kids," he said.

'A time of revelations'

The festival is held each year following Eid-al-Fitr, the breaking of the fast that marks the end of Ramadan. Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, honors the revelation of the Quran, the central book of Islam, and other sacred writings to Mohammed, Islam's most important prophet.

This year, Ramadan began the evening of March 10, with Eid taking place in the U.S. starting the evening of April 9 and celebrated April 10. The sighting of the new moon is used to determine the timing of of Eid al-Fitr. Observing a lunar calendar, the start of Ramadan varies by about 11 days each year.

"The month of Ramadan is a time of revelations," said Muhammad Xhemali, acting imam at the Worcester Islamic Center. "All of the truths are revealed to Mohammed including the Quran."

Ramadan is marked by fasting, which is one of the five main tenets or pillars of Islam. It is required by everyone whose health profile makes it permissible, with exceptions for those with mental or physical illnesses that make them incapable, pregnant and breastfeeding women, the elderly and children who have not yet reached puberty.

But Xhemali said, while Ramadan's rules can bring challenges, Ramadan is a joyous time, with family and friends coming together including for iftar, the meal each evening during Ramadan, to mark the end of the day's fast. "Worship is a joyful time and everyone is united in purpose," Xhemali said.

'For families to have fun'

Lines formed for activities such as balloon animals. Waiting in line with her family was Vanessa Savei, whose daughter, Hayati, was draped in her arms and resting her head on her mother's shoulder. The family had just arrived and looked forward to taking in all the offerings.

"It's a time for getting together and for families to have fun," Savei said. "It's like, a happy time for kids." Although Eid has many profound truths for Muslims, the festival's atmosphere is intended as a light-hearted celebration. "It's for everyone to have a good time."

A mission of humanity

But even during a festive occasion come worries for people living in areas of conflict including Ukraine and Gaza. Two tables inside the main entrance of the mosque were dedicated to the organization, Helping Hand for Relief and Development.

Also known as HHRD, the organization's mission to is to help people in emergency and disaster areas worldwide. In addition to the urgent response, the organization works on long-term relief and development programs.

Fatima Kouskous of Worcester is the organization's New England deputy area manager, overseeing the regional office in Westborough.

"We are for humanity, Muslims and non-Muslims," Kouskous said. Organization members work to help people in crisis worldwide including in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Ukraine and Gaza, where an estimated 30,000 people have died since the start of the Israel-Hamas War.

Kouskous said the organization has been working to help in Gaza, where, according to a U.N.-backed report, more than half the population faces life-threatening hunger. "We do what we are allowed to do," said Kouskous, who also serves on the mosque's executive committee as the New Muslim Program coordinator.

Worry and prayers

For sale at the Helping Hands tables were T-shirts with the slogan, "Peace for Gaza." The Israel-Hamas War began Oct. 7, after Hamas members launched a deadly attack on areas around the Gaza Strip, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 200 hostages.

"We don't get involved in terms of the politics," said Kouskous. "Our mission is only to provide aid."

Xhemali said the war in Gaza is deeply felt within the mosque's congregation. "There is no prayer that is offered without some mention of our brothers and sisters in Gaza," said Xhemali, noting that many congregation members fear for family members and friends trapped in Gaza.

Helping people globally and locally

The mosque serves followers of Sunni Islam, the larger of two major branches of Islam. In addition to a place of worship and faith education, mosques including the Worcester Islamic Center provide many services.

Ramadan can be a time to raise the level of awareness of services including a health clinic that is available to anyone. "That is free of charge to the whole community," said Xhemali.

There is also a recently-opened food pantry. Helping those in need is central to Islam, said Xhemali, who noted a hadith, or saying of Mohammed, that says one way to help someone is providing their meal for the iftar. "The one who feeds a fasting person receives a reward, but it doesn't lessen the virtue of either person."

This article originally appeared on Worcester Magazine: Face-painting, balloons, games, gathering; festival celebrates Eid