Kenya Muslims Pray for Palestinians as They Mark End of Ramadan

Muslim devotees offer Eid al-Fitr prayers in Nairobi

By Rédaction Africanews with AP

Muslims around the world have celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

It is a joyful time of the year, with people getting together with friends and family, buying new clothes, and plenty of sweet treats after a month of dawn-to-dusk fasting.

And in Kenya, the country’s over five million Muslims, representing about 11 per cent of the population, have also been marking Eid with prayers.

They flocked to mosques with most expressing their delight in finishing the holy month in peace and good health.

“We have been fasting the whole month of Ramadan and today is our Eid, it is a happy day, a happy Eid Mubarak, and we will be celebrating the whole day,” said Huddah Hassan Daud.

At Rahma Mosque in the capital, Nairobi, the Imam's message was one of hope and thanksgiving.

“We thank Allah, Subhanahu wataala (may He be praised and exalted), immensely for enabling us to reach the holy month of Ramadan and then giving us the ability to finish that holy month,” said Imam Abdulrahman Musa.

But this year, prayers at the mosque focused on the plight of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, with Musa saying the whole world was watching as they  are "subjected to unjustified aggression" and violence.

Palestinians are marking what is meant to be a happy day faced with widespread hunger, shortages of basic necessities, destruction, and death.