KARACHI: Muslims across the country celebrated Eidul Fitr on Tuesday with religious zeal and fervour without coronavirus restrictions after two years, marking the end of the holy month of Ramazan.
Congregations were held in open spaces, mosques and Eidgah’s early in the day across Pakistan, Radio Pakistan reported, adding that prayer leaders highlighted the significance and philosophy of Eidul Fitr in their sermons.
Special prayers were offered for the progress and prosperity of Pakistan as well as the welfare of Muslim communities worldwide, the report stated.
In the federal capital, the main Eid congregation was held at the Faisal Mosque where President Dr Arif Alvi and high officials and envoys of Muslim countries offered Eid prayers.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz offered Eid prayers at Jati Umrah Mosque in Lahore. Later, the Prime Minister and Chief Minister got mingled with other worshipers and exchanged Eid greetings with them.
However, three separate Eids were celebrated in the country — North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, and the rest of Pakistan — as the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee’s decision was not unanimously accepted across the country.
PM urges showing compassion to people in need
In his message on the occasion, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended greetings to the nation as well as Muslim Ummah on Eidul Fitr and urged the countrymen to show compassion and take special care of the people in need while celebrating the festival.
The prime minister said Allah had awarded Muslims with Eidul Fitr after the month of Ramadan. He said considering Ramadan’s spirit of patience, sacrifice and compassion, it was incumbent upon the followers to be extra cautious about the needs of the poor and needy while celebrating the Eid.
The prime minister said his government was committed to ensuring the country’s deliverance from the load shedding and was making all-out efforts to achieve the objective.
He also directed the authorities concerned to refrain from carrying out power outages for the three days of Eid-ul-Fitr to allow the people to enjoy the occasion.
The prime minister also asked the countrymen to remember the people of Palestine and the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir on the occasion of Eid and pray for their liberation from oppression.
He also expressed his good wishes for the people of Afghanistan and prayed for durable peace, progress, and prosperity in the war-torn country.
President’s message
Separately, in his message, President Dr Arif Alvi, while greeting the countrymen on Eidul Fitr, said it was a day of giving, blessings, and forgiveness. The president prayed to Allah to make the day a source of joys and eases.
The president said Eid required the celebrators to share their joys with the poor by fully supporting them to achieve real happiness and exercise the true spirit of the festival.
President Alvi prayed to Allah to inculcate, in our personalities, the characteristics of love for worship, self-control, and passion to sacrifice, which we had been practicing throughout Ramadan.
