Id-ul-Fitr a low-key affair in city

People celebrate the festival and offer prayers at their homes

Id-ul-Fitr, the festival of breaking the fast, was a low-key affair in the city, as almost every Muslim family celebrated it at their homes, without going to the mosques here on Monday.

Maintaining the protocol of lockdown 4.0, all of them offered prayers from their homes.

Traditionally, we are supposed to accumulate at the masjid or Idgah and offer our prayers, which is followed by the mass blessing by the imam and celebration. But this year, since the government has prohibited congregation at religious places to maintain the social distancing norms, we did not organise the prayer at the Idgah, said Alikhan, president of Abu Sarang Mosque in Kotaveedhi.

He said this was the need of the hour and we have strictly adhered to it to prevent spread of coronavirus.

According to him and others at Kotaveedhi, which is said to be oldest colony of the city, with settlement of Muslims extending over 400 years, this was probably for the first time that Id prayers were not offered at the Idgah and at the 400-year-old mosque atop the Baba Ishaq Madina hillock. The mosque is said to be built by Aurangzeb and is still called as Alamgir’s mosque.

“We offered prayers both at Abu Saragn Mosque, which is over 100-years-old, and at the Alamgir’s mosque, but the attendance was restricted to six persons only, including the imam,” said Mr. Alikhan, who says that his ancestors were fauzdars in Aurangzeb’s army, and had settled down in Kotaveedhi since the 17th century.

Though the lockdown may have dampened the festivity at the Idgah or at the mosques, but many were happy that they could spend the entire day with their family.

Traditional food

Normally, after prayers we embrace each other, offer greetings and visit the homes of friends and relatives exchanging delicious ‘biryani’, haleem and ‘semaiya’, but this year it was sans this excitement. But we spent quality time at home with family and enjoyed the festival over traditional food, said Nusrat Alikhan, an executive with a shipping company.

Id shopping was also on the lower side, compared to the previous years, as most of the shops were closed, and it only picked up on the last two days.

The city folks also missed out on the ‘haleem’ and ‘biryani’ stalls this year that spring up at different points in the city.