Thousands gather for Eid
IT was a scorching hot 28 degrees and a sea of prayer mats lined the fields outside a secondary school in Cheadle.
July 20 marked Eid al-Adha, one of the major religious festivals observed in Islam. People flocked to the fields of Kingsway School to celebrate with friends and family.
It’s estimated around 2,500 people were in attendance at the prayer ceremony and it marks the first religious holiday since lockdown restrictions were eased. The event was put together by the Cheadle Masjid mosque, based on Wilmslow Road in Heald Green.
Dr Usman Choudry, a local GP and committee member for Cheadle Mosque, helped put together the event which featured a morning of prayers alongside food stalls and kids entertainment.
“Today is a great time for people to come together as families,” Dr Choudry told the Express. “It ties in with the pilgrimage of Hajj, where people celebrate all across the world. There’s a congregational prayer and a sacrifice, where people will sacrifice a lamb or a cow, and share that meat with their friends and family and those in need.
“It’s a real festival of coming together and about ensuring the poor and needy are looked after and remembered as well.”
Last year’s ceremony was a much-subtler event, due to early lockdown restrictions.
Speaking about the fact people can celebrate Eid al-Adha together this year, Dr Choudry said it was a great opportunity.
“It’s been 18 months of real difficulty of social distancing and not being able to see each other,” Dr Choudry adds. “It’s one of the first times where people can come together, pray together and meet.
“It’s a very important day. We’re just hoping that the cases don’t rise and that’s always a big worry in the back of my mind - we’re trying to distance as much as we can but people are also ready for a break.”