Eid holiday for Michigan Muslims -- bittersweet and sad

Detroit Free Press article posted Monday 7/28/2014 -- by reporter Niraj Warikoo -- Muslims across metro Detroit marked Eid on Monday, celebrating the holy day while also grieving for casualties in Middle East conflicts. “Eid is bittersweet,” said Zeinab Chami, of Dearborn. “It’s a beautiful day of gratitude to God, spirituality, and family, but it’s also the end of something wonderful. Eid is when we bid goodbye to Ramadan, which is like losing a friend.” “This year, it’s especially bittersweet because of all the strife in the Muslim world, especially in Gaza and Iraq,” Chami added. “This Eid will be particularly difficult to celebrate with our whole hearts.” Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, head of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights, echoed her views, saying: “We are grateful celebrating the occasion here, but we are extremely sad because of the situation in Gaza, in Syria, in Iraq, and some other Muslim nations that have no Eid today and can’t celebrate it because of war and violence.” In his sermon Monday after Eid prayers, Elahi criticized both Israel and the Islamic State, formerly ISIS, a militant group in Iraq and Syria. “They have nothing to do with Islam,” Elahi said of the group. Eid marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, when Muslims believe that Islam’s holy book, the Qur'an, was revealed by God to Mohammed, the prophet of Islam. In his sermon Monday after Eid prayers, Elahi said that Eid is like a “thanksgiving day for us, a spiritual birthday as we celebrate our submission to our Lord, and solidarity with his people.” Elahi urged the congregation to continue six lessons from Ramadan: prayer, patience, charity, humility, respect, and responsibilities.