Multicultural society is celebrated in European gatherings

Muslims across Europe marked the start of Eid Al Fitr yesterday by gathering for public events that local officials praised as a celebration of multicultural society.

In Turin, northern Italy, a large outdoors event was held with prayers and meals, with Muslims and Christians celebrating the day together.

“All Muslim friends here in Turin were submitted in the holy month of Ramadan to the obedience of faith towards God and consolidated fraternal bonds in their community,” said Cesare Nosiglia, Catholic archbishop of Turin until February, who helped organise the event.

“We are also grateful to them for the lots of generous gestures they all did towards the needy in our city.”

In Blackburn, northern England, Muslims gathered to celebrate Eid at Ewood Park stadium – home to Blackburn Rovers football club. Mayor Derek Hardman gave a speech to welcome worshippers and thank Rovers for offering their stadium.

In France, which has Europe’s largest Muslim population, thousands of people also gathered to mark the day in football stadiums – including at Garges les Gonesse, north of Paris.

Mayor Benoit Jimenez tweeted his delight at being able to help organise the celebrations, saying he was happy to share a “convivial moment of prayer”, with the Muslim community.

In Romania, worshippers celebrated Eid in large numbers at a sports hall in the capital, Bucharest, where thoughts turned to the war in neighbouring Ukraine.

“We have a very important message regarding this conflict that takes place near us,” said Gemaledin Demirel, director of the Islamic and Cultural League in Romania.

“We will all pray for peace, for tolerance and for the good to prevail and for the bad things to be gone.”

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, many Muslims celebrated Eid – known in Bosnia as bajram – in the country’s mosques. After morning prayers, Muslim Bosniaks, who number about half of the country’s population of 3.5 million, traditionally visit their families and the graves of relatives and friends.

In Turkey, thousands of worshippers flocked to Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul, filling the 1,500-year-old house of worship and square in Turkey’s largest city.

Built as an Orthodox Christian cathedral, Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque following the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. In 1935, it became a museum under Turkey’s secular republic.

In 2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a decree allowing Hagia Sophia to be reclassified as a mosque again.