Pune: “This year the Eid was celebrated not just for the community, but for humanity,” said Dr Haji Zakir Shaikh, restaurateur and resident of Vishrantwadi.
Unlike every year, Eid was celebrated by the community indoors this time, with prayers at home, and meals shared with the immediate families only.
“It was a very unusual Eid today, as we could not meet and share the festivities with each other due to lockdown. But nevertheless, we celebrated with our families,” said Pune-based Dr Aishah Vaseem Shaikh.
“Eid was never a festival to be celebrated indoors. While the regular prayers are at mosques, the Eid prayers are supposed to be held in an open air place, with more people coming together. After that, people visit each others’ homes, and share food and happiness. This year, the picture was totally different, but we enjoyed the festival anyway, by wishing our loved ones on the phone,” Dr Aishah said.
Following the norms of lockdown, there was a live telecast of Namaaz at Azam Campus Masjid in Camp so that everyone could pray at home. At 8 am on Monday, Pesh Imam Moulana Naseem Ahmed guided everyone on how to offer prayers, before praying for the Eid-Ul-Fitr Around 5,000 devotees joined online for the prayers.
“This year, we did not wait till Eid for Jakaat. We offered it during the Ramzan itself, for Covid-19 relief works. Usually, we donate to the cause of the community for Jakaat, but this time, it was for humanity only,” Haji Zakeer said.
However, he reiterated that the happiness was no less. “We could not share Sheer Khurma with each other, but we used the technology to connect with each other,” he added.
On the eve of Eid that is on Sunday, several members of the community donated around 1,000 litres of milk in Kondhwa.