Eid al Fitr

Audio transcript:

0:00:06:>>MANAF BASHIR: Welcome to Muslim voices. I'm your host Manaf Bashir. Ramadan the month of Muslim fasting took place this September. It's a time of reflection and sacrifice as Muslims attempt to become closer to Allah. When Ramadan ends Muslims celebrate with a three day festival called Eit al Fitr. Ramadan ended on September 30th. The morning of October 1st. Muslims in Bloomington gathered in a field not far from Indiana University to celebrate Iid. For many the holiday is not only a time to celebrate the end of the fast. It's also a time to celebrate the Muslim community as you will hear in this audio postcard.

0:00:51:>>UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: So what do we do now? They'll start a chant for the lack of any other better words. This is called Takveera TAKVEERA. So they will do it like for next 15 20 minutes. And we have the today's prayer leader coming in from the Islamic Society of North America in Plainfield. His name is Safi, SAFI. And hopefully he'll be here sometime soon. And he will lead the prayer and then he will give a sermon that has two parts, thanking for the Ramadan that we were able to do Ramadan and then looking forward to the next 11 months.

0:01:45:>>UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: One meaning of Ramadan is that to give you a moment to reflect on the blessings that you have as a human being. And this celebration is about coming together to celebrate after thanking God, allows some kind of dialogue that we have accomplished this year and also making prayer that we live to to witness the same thing next year and in years to come.

0:02:21:>>UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: We say there is no god but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet of Allah. We confess to follow the Hamas of Allah. The question is, can we carry his legacy? Can we carry his mission? Can we as a community be seen as mercy to humanity? Are we merciful humans? This is the question that we have to ask ourselves as we proceed.

0:02:57:>>UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: I'm a convert. Actually since I became a Muslim, you know? I mean, my life has changed a lot. It's just like everybody getting together and celebrating together. It's just an amazing experience. And it helps us feel like closer to God whenever we're all just like closer together we just feel a unity.

0:03:29:>>UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: Islam is a human religion. This means it's based on meeting people talking with people. And that's it. You have to meet you and talk to people. Being alone is not a good thing. And even the prophet says in one of his traditions that praying with people is 27 times better than praying alone which focuses on the social aspect.

0:03:57:>>UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: We've been blessed by God Almighty. We've fasted to keep in tune what God has decreed for us? After. Breaking the fast. It's a period for rejoicing. All right. That is still kind of a community just like we're doing and sharing.

0:04:22:>>UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: Hopefully with the work I have done last month it's was good enough for me. And hopefully God accepts it. And plus it's also I see everybody that I don't see the rest of the year.

0:04:59:>>MANAF BASHIR: This has been Muslim voices a production of voices and visions and partnership with WFIU public media from Indiana University.