3 days ago
Northwest Indiana's Muslim community comes together to observe Eid Al-Adha
Muslims from throughout Northwest Indiana gathered together on Friday to pray and celebrate Eid Al-Adha.
The celebration, the first day of a three-day event, was held inside Crown Point's Sparta Dome.
The Sparta Dome was selected as the best place to hold the festivity because of the aspect of community, the joining together of Muslims from throughout the area, Jawad Nammari said.
Nammari, who is a volunteer at the Northwest Indiana Islamic Center, also served as one of the organizers of the event.
'Rather than hosting the event at one mosque, the Sparta Dome was chosen because it has plenty of space to accommodate the large Muslim community, who are celebrating together from across the Northwest Indiana region. We all join together in prayer,' he said.
Eid Al-Adha is one of two main holidays in the Islamic religion and is a celebration that is held worldwide, he said.
'Eid Al-Adha commemorates when Prophet Ibrahim (Arabic for Abraham) was commanded by God to sacrifice his son, Ismail (Arabic for Ishmael), as an act of obedience and fulfilling a commandment from God,' he said.
God intervened at the moment of sacrifice and sent a ram to be sacrificed instead.
'This was a test of faith and both father and son passed it with full obedience and trust in God,' he said.
The Eid Al-Adha celebration started at sunrise and many of those in the area traveled to either the Illiana Islamic Center in Highland or the Northwest Indiana Islamic Center in Merrillville to say early morning prayers, he said.
Ferass Safadi, who serves as treasurer at the Northwest Indiana Islamic Center, said this event is the first time those from both mosques joined together.
'This is history in the making,' Safadi said.
The prayer at the beginning of the event is called Takbeenr which is the praising of Allah, Northwest Indiana Islamic Center member Amera Salam Nammari said.
Those in attendance greeted each other upon entry to the dome with hugs or handshakes before being seated in chairs or on rugs spread throughout the area.
All removed their shoes before the saying of prayers and message of forgiveness and thankfulness led by Iman Mongy El-Quesny of the Northwest Indiana Islamic Center.
Following the main prayers, festivities for families continued including bouncy houses and events for young children.
Food trucks, which offered traditional meals like shawarma and falafel, were also available to participants.
'Although Muslims worship five times a day daily and are obliged to obey the commandments of God, this day is a holiday as part of honoring a great act of faith, honoring sacrifice, charity and community,' Jawad Nammari said.
