Celebration of Eid al-Fitar marks end of Ramadan

Photo By Cpl. Mark Garcia | A group of Jordanians bow their heads in prayer during a service to celebrate Eid al-Fitar, Aug. 19. During the service, more than 300 Muslims from various countries came together to celebrate Eid. Eid marks the end of Ramadan and is a time of celebration when Muslims hold a festival, pray and ask for forgiveness.  

CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN

08.22.2012

Story by Cpl. Mark Garcia 

Regional Command Southwest

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – More than 300 Muslims from various countries came together to celebrate Eid al-Fitar, Aug. 19.

Eid al-Fitar, also known as Eid, marks the end of Ramadan and is a time of celebration when Muslims hold a festival, pray and ask for forgiveness. During the Eid service Muslims from different nationalities joined together to enjoy the festivities.

“Today is the day of Eid or celebration day, we do this after Ramadan is completed,” said Awais Ahmed, from Arlington, Virg., a linguist and one of the coordinators for the Eid service. “After Ramadan is conducted, we’ll come together and have a big festival during which we pray and ask God to forgive our sins and accept our prayers and fasting and everything that we did during Ramadan. So, the purpose of Eid is for us to come together so that we may share our happiness and joy.”

During Ramadan, which typically lasts 30 days, Muslims fast and conduct prayer services.

“This is actually the first time I’ve been deployed during Ramadan and it’s been educational to see how everybody else performs Eid,” said 1st Lt. Sheik Faruk, the assistant officer in charge of Afghan National Security Force construction, from Queens, N.Y. “So for me being able to participate in a culture that I’ve been absent from because of growing up in New York its been kind of enlightening. You’re able to see the sacrifice everybody goes through to perform Ramadan so it’s definitely educational.”

While participants of the Eid service hailed from different countries they were able to overcome the different language barriers.

“It shows the success of the Muslim community here on Leatherneck in terms of reaching out and saying lets join together to practice our faith,” said Navy Capt. Guy Lee, the chaplain for Regional Command Southwest. “As a chaplain, we’re here to basically support the free exercise of religion for everybody. So to see Jordanians, Bahrainis, Bosnians, Americans and British all celebrating together made it a great celebration.”

• Date Taken: 08.22.2012
• Date Posted: 08.22.2012 09:04
• Story ID: 93611
• Location: CAMP LEATHERNECK, AF