Muslims
celebrate holiday - Carroll County Times Jan. 21, 2005
Muslims
celebrate holiday By Jaime Bloss, Times Staff Writer
Friday,
January 21, 2005 updated 15Mar2019 due to a link that no longer works…
BRENDAN
BUSH/STAFF PHOTO Muslims kneel in prayer as they meet for a community gathering
to commemorate the holiday of Eid al-Adha at the Best Western in Westminster.
About 50 Muslim men, women, and children assembled in Westminster
Thursday morning for the first community gathering for holiday prayers to
commemorate Eid al-Adha.
[…]
Westminster Mayor Kevin
Dayhoff spoke after the prayers Thursday morning.
"We all share a
common belief in our families, we all share a common belief in our community,
and we all share a common belief in God," Dayhoff said.
[…]
After removing
their shoes, attendees sat or knelt on sheets laid out on one side of the room.
The people sat in rows, with the men in front and women and children in the
back.
Before the start
of the holiday prayers, which were spoken in Arabic, some male attendees
focused on traditional holiday chants, said only twice a year.
Mohamed Esa, who
helped to organize the prayer event at the Best Western Catering and Conference
Center, addressed the group before the imam, or prayer leader, began the
prayers.
"We are
truly making history today .... Today, we are truly a Muslim community in the
making," Esa said.
Eid al-Adha, or
Festival of the Sacrifice, commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice
Ishmael, his first son, as commanded by God, known as Allah in Arabic.
After seeing
Abraham's dedication to him, God sent a sheep to be sacrificed in Ishmael's
place.
The feast of
sacrifice is part of the annual pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca in Saudi Arabia,
where the prophet Mohammed first received the Quran holy book.
Muslims try to
this make this pilgrimage once in their lifetimes. During the hajj, the
pilgrims focus on prayer and meditation.
Eid al-Adha is
celebrated worldwide with the sacrifice of a sheep or goat, a portion of which
is given to the poor.
"In
addition to, or instead of, sacrificing an animal, this year, many Muslims
opted to donate money to the tsunami victims," Esa said.
Members of the
Carroll County Islamic community have donated more than $5,000 in the past two
weeks for tsunami relief in Sumatra and Sri Lanka, he said.
Westminster Mayor Kevin Dayhoff spoke after the prayers
Thursday morning.
"We all share a common belief in our families, we
all share a common belief in our community, and we all share a common belief in
God," Dayhoff said.
Some of those
gathered for the holiday prayers were meeting other Muslims in the area for the
first time, said Sohail Mahmood of Westminster, who attended with his wife and
children.
In previous
years, Muslims in Carroll had to travel to Washington, D.C., or the Baltimore
area to worship.
"We've
never had this before," said Mahmood. "We made history."
Waqar Ahmed, who
helped plan the event, hoped misunderstandings about their religion could be
cleared up through this event and similar events in the future.
"We are a
very peaceful, loving people," said Ahmed, of Westminster.
A group of
doctors in Westminster began gathering in one of their offices in August to
participate in prayers, according to Dr. Syed Hosain, an event organizer.
Other Muslims
found out about the gathering and began attending.
The group moved
from meeting in the offices to a room in a local hotel.
After outgrowing
that space, pastors at the Westminster Church of the Brethren agreed to let
them use the church's basement to gather, he said.
The church's
pastors have been supportive in allowing them to use the space, Hosain said.
"I think
we've been very blessed," Hosain said.
Now 25 to 30
people get together for Friday prayers in the basement of the Westminster
Church of the Brethren, he said.
"I never
realized there were so many Muslims in Westminster," Hosain said. "It
was wonderful to find out."
