Muslims End Ramadan Fast in Prayer, Feast

The day began with prayers, leading into a daylong feast and celebration as local Muslims marked the end of Ramadan on Tuesday.

In the San Fernando Valley, morning prayers were offered by thousands at several mosques where cramped quarters required men, women and children to pray in two shifts. The Islamic Center of Reseda attracted approximately 700 to its prayers held at the Odyssey restaurant in Granada Hills.

Tuesday’s holiday, Eid al-Fitr--which in Arabic means “the festival of breaking of the fast”--is when families and friends gather to share a meal with others who have practiced the monthlong Ramadan fast that involves abstaining during daylight hours from food, water and sex.

During Eid, gifts are exchanged, greetings cards are sent to one’s homeland and phone calls are made across the country or to the other side of the globe. “We’re having a lot of fun seeing our friends and eating,” said Fazal Khan, past secretary of the Islamic Center of Northridge.

Generally, people will go from one friend’s home to another, eating and visiting along the way. This year was Shafaq Chawdhry’s turn to offer up his West Hills home to those who attend his mosque. “People just come in as they wish,” Chawdhry said, “The food is on the table where it will stay until dark.”

The three-day holiday, Khan said, calls for each Muslim to donate money to charity. Additionally, gifts such as cakes or chocolates are given to neighbors, even if they aren’t Muslim.