French Muslims Celebrate Eid al-Adha While Observing COVID-19 Precautions

Unlike the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, Muslims have adapted to the strong measures imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic. By dint of respecting these barrier gestures, many have ended up getting used to them. Several cities that were heavily contaminated at the start of the health crisis have also seen a regression in cases of contamination since the lifting of confinement.

In the mosques, in the open air or on the spaces rented by the staff of each mosque, the atmosphere of the great festivals was there, reports the AFP. In Villemonble, 20 kilometers east of Paris, some rushed to take the front rows of the Alain-Mimoun stadium with prayer mats. All dressed in djellabas or colorful fabrics with a mandatory mask, they attended the Eid prayer, observed the AFP. Despite the health context, the mosque was full with more than 3,500 worshippers who came this Friday morning to celebrate Eid in Gennevilliers during two separate services.

For Loubna Saadaoui, she has always celebrated Eid in her country, in Morocco, because of the coronavirus. "So we have to do it at home," she adds. According to her, she will be able to celebrate this "magical" moment with other practitioners in the neighborhood.

While in some cities, where the risk of contagion is much lower, the celebration took place in compliance with barrier gestures, in Seine-Saint-Denis, one of the departments most affected by the epidemic, some mosques have given up celebrating Eid. In this regard, the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) had called on Saturday for the greatest caution. It had asked the mosques that could not enforce the barrier measures to "refrain from organizing the collective prayers of Eid and Friday".