Portugal has reportedly “already surpassed 100,000” Muslims
Lisbon has had an unusual Sunday of celebrations.
First up early morning was the arrival of around 5,000 Muslims, dressed in full costume, in Alameda, to celebrate the end of Ramadan.
Eid al-Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of the Islamic holy month, which for 30 days requires fasting between dawn and dusk, begins with a community prayer, held in mosques or open spaces, bringing the whole community together.
In Lisbon, where an estimated 15,000 Muslims live, prayers were planned for Praça do Martim Moniz and Alameda, in addition to the usual prayers at the Central Mosque.
“They arrived in families, groups, or on their own, on foot, by car, or by bicycle, coming from all over, carrying their own prayer rugs”, writes Lusa – which spoke to some of the faithful who were very positive about Portugal “being a good country for Islam”, but not having enough places of worship (as there are now well over 100,000 Muslims living in the country, and, as one explained, “the community is growing”).
Mohammed Chowdhury, president of the Alameda Jame Masjid mosque, outlined the challenges to everyday prayers. “On Friday, the Jumu’ah prayer had to be celebrated three times [at the Alameda mosque], to cater for everyone, because there are more and more people, (if there were) more mosques, it would be easier”.
This was also evident at the Central Mosque – headquarters of the Portuguese Islamic community in São Sebastião, where two morning prayer sessions had to be held (one at 7.30am, the other two hours later), while municipal police outside “directed traffic and parking, which was chaotic for that time of morning on a Sunday”.
In stark contrast, a few hours later, the city hosted celebrations for St Patrick’s Day (even though the date fell two weeks ago!)
Thousands of people marched down Avenida da Liberdade to the sound of bagpipes, played by Portuguese and Spanish bands.
This was the second celebration of St Patrick’s Day in the capital, organised by the Guinness brewery giant.
Source material: LUSA/ SIC Notícias
