Islamic Center of Naperville Hosts Eid Celebration

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Safe Eid Celebration

The Islamic Center of Naperville held a safe Eid celebration today, Youth Eid Drive-Thru, for Eid al-Fitr.

Eid al-Fitr is a religious holiday for Muslims that marks the end of the month-long Ramadan. With the coronavirus pandemic, this Eid looks different.

“Normally on Eid in a non-quarantined situation we start our day with Eid prayers, with lots of hugs and kisses, and with meeting family and friends. And so this Eid is definitely different in that regard, we’re not able to congregate obviously,” said Mesha Fakhruddin, co-organizer of the Islamic Center of Naperville’s Youth Eid Drive-Thru.

Youth Eid Drive-Thru

“We are remaining socially distant, but we still wanted to have the feeling of consecutiveness and see everybody. So we decided this was a safe way to still see everyone and celebrate Eid,” said Fakhruddin. “So as people drive in to the parking lot, they are checked in and loop around and get to see the balloons, maybe have some silly string sprayed on their car, grab some candy for the kids. We get to wave, say Salam, send greetings, say Eid Mubarak.

I hope that they have that feeling of what community really means. It’s not just the building itself. Just because we can’t congregate in the building, it doesn’t mean that there’s any less feeling of community. It’s really coming together in these kinds of times that makes a community one. There’s ways that we can still reach out and have that connection.”

Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.