Thousands of Muslims celebrate Eid at ballpark
They answer call to prayer, observe holiday for first time at Allentown’s Coca-Cola Park
No one would ever mistake Coca-Cola Park — home of the IronPigs — for Mecca but when thousands of Muslims came together in prayer in the outfield Sunday it lent the ballpark a kind of communal sanctity.
More than 4,000 Muslims streamed into the stadium early in the morning to celebrate Eid al-Adha — commonly called Eid — one of the two biggest Islamic holidays. It was the first time that six mosques in the Lehigh Valley region joined to organize such a celebration, aimed at promoting Muslim unity and dispelling misconceptions about the religion. One of the organizers, Mohammed Khaku, a member of Al-Ahad Islamic Center in South Whitehall Township, expects it won’t be the last.
“This was our first learning experience,” he said. “Next year we will be well-organized. Instead of getting 4,000 like today, maybe we’ll get 10,000.”
Khaku said leaders of the participating mosques looked at other venues, including local college stadiums, but came to an agreement with Coca-Cola Park about two weeks ago. The faithful had to pass by a huge
permanent sign near the entrance to the stadium that said “This is Bacon USA” — maybe not quite the right note for a religion that prohibits eating pork products.
And yet, the sun was shining and the weather was fine as Muslims arrived from across the Greater Lehigh Valley region to mark the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the Hajj. Muslims everywhere who are able are expected to make the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia at least once in their lives. But all observant Muslims celebrate the end of the Hajj with the holiday Eid alAdha, which means “feast of sacrifice.”
The celebration marks the willingness of Abraham (also known as Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael in obedience to God before God stopped him and gave him a sheep to sacrifice instead.
Taking part in Sunday’s event was Al-Ahad Islamic Center, Al-Maqasid, Easton Phillipsburg Muslim Association, Islamic Education Center of Pennsylvania, Muslim Association of the Lehigh Valley and Respect Graduate School. Prayers were led by Imam Basheer Bilaal of the Muslim Association of the Lehigh Valley. Those attending were encouraged to return at 1:30 p.m. to watch the IronPigs play the Charlotte Knights.
Gazi Abdulhay, a gynecologist oncologist who came to the United States from Turkey in 1972 and now lives in Orefield, said he and other Muslims must engage with non-Muslims to dispel misconceptions about their religion, which has about 1.8 billion adherents around the globe.
Abdulhay, one of the founders of the Muslim Association of the Lehigh Valley, said he has taken care of thousands of patients and often they are surprised to learn he is Muslim.
“When people see me, they say, ‘You don’t look like a Muslim,’ ” he recalled, laughing. “I say, ‘You were expecting someone with dark skin and a long flowing robe, weren’t you?’ and they say yes and we laugh about it.
“I think one of the key things is for people to sit together, look each other in the eye, share a cup of coffee, talk, dialogue,” he said. “I really believe that’s really important.”
Khaku and others said the leaders were concerned about security at the celebration, especially in the wake of recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. That’s why they hired security personnel to search bags at the entrance and patrol the grounds. The event, including the stadium rental and security, cost the Islamic groups about $21,000, Khaku said.
As the rhythmic chanting of the Islamic call to prayer sounded over the stadium loudspeaker, Ahmet Tekeliglu, outreach and education director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Pennsylvania, said the mass murder last March at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, by a suspected white supremacist heightened security concerns for Muslims.
“It’s in the back of people’s minds,” said Tekeliglu, of Allentown, who emigrated from Turkey in 2007. But he said if people let that fear stop them from coming together, they would be giving in to terrorism.
But he also sounded optimistic about the future.
“We are American Muslims, we are diverse but we are here to stay as Americans,” he said, quoting the line popularized by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
He planned to return to CocaCola Park in the afternoon to watch his first live baseball game.