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Muslims celebrate end of Ramadan
By Zhu Zhe (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-04 05:51
Muslims across China ended their final sunrise-to-sunset fast and gathered in
mosques yesterday, to celebrate the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
The Niujie Mosque in Beijing, the largest and oldest among the 68 mosques in
the capital, welcomed some 4,500 Muslims from every corner of the city.
It was the first time that the 1,000-year-old mosque had opened to the public
since March, because of renovations.
"Starting from 8 o'clock in the morning, people began to swarm to the
mosque," said Sun Ying from the subdistrict office of Niujie Street, the largest
Muslim area in Beijing.
"Forty-six foreign Muslims from eight countries such as Iran also joined the
joyous group to celebrate the festival of fast-breaking."
Children walked through the streets with sweets in hand, folk artists
showed-off their beautiful voices and dances and people tucked into a variety of
Muslim street snacks. At present, Beijing has 250,000 Muslim residents, and more
than 10,000 are living in the Niujie area.
In Northwest China, where most of the country's Muslims live, many local
people celebrated the day.
"I went to a nearby mosque in the morning and stayed there for an hour
praying to almighty God for happiness and safety for my family," said Xie
Xiaodong, a professor at Lanzhou University in Gansu, adding that all his family
members are Muslims.
"It's a sacred and happy day for us," he said. "We've cleaned our home
thoroughly and put on new clothes for the festival."
According to State regulations, Muslims in China have one day off for the
fast-breaking festival, and in some areas such as the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region, they enjoy a three-day holiday.
Eid al-Fitr Arabic for the "festival of breaking the fast" is a time for
family gatherings and meals. For the next two days, people usually flood parks
and other public places, with children decked out in new clothes for the
occasion.
Observant Muslims refrain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset during
Ramadan, the month in Islam's lunar calendar when it is believed that the first
verses of the Koran Islam's holy book were revealed to the prophet Muhammad in
the 7th century.
(China Daily 11/04/2005 page2)
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