March 20, Kathmandu – Today, the Muslim community is celebrating the festival of Eid ul-Fitr. According to the Arabic Hijri calendar, Muslims who observe fasting during the ninth month offer special prayers and seek blessings from their elders to mark the occasion.
Following the special prayers, there is a tradition of visiting elders over the next three days to receive their blessings. It is also customary to bless younger members during this festival. Relatives who come to seek blessings are typically offered sweet dishes such as sevai and dates.
At the Kashmiri Mosque near Ghantaghar in Kathmandu, a large number of Muslim devotees gathered for prayers today. Special prayers were also held at the Jama Masjid in Ghantaghar this morning. It is a common practice to visit elders to receive blessings after the prayer session.
The festival is aptly called Eid ul-Fitr, representing the joy of giving alms and sharing with the needy and poor. Abdul Sattar, a central member of the Nepali Congress and a Muslim community leader, shared that the festival is determined based on the sighting of the crescent moon at the end of the ninth month in the Arabic calendar.
An important aspect of this occasion is the act of charity towards the destitute and underprivileged.
