Muslims Gather for Socially Distanced Eid al-Fitr Prayer in French Stadium

More than 2,000 Muslims gathered in the Louison-Bobet sports complex, in Levallois-Perret, in the Hauts-de-Seine, for the Eid al-Fitr prayer. Religious ceremonies having been authorized again since Saturday, May 23, this is the first time that a public prayer has been organized in two months, and this, in compliance with barrier gestures.

"We clearly see that the safety distances are respected. It’s cleared, no one is touching. It’s beautiful!" rejoices the president of the Union of Muslims of Levallois, Ali Essebki. Wearing a mask, hand washing with hydroalcoholic gel, worshippers placed one meter apart from each other, and distributed between two fields and the athletics tracks by 35 volunteers. The Eid prayer in Levallois-Perret took place under reassuring health conditions.

One of the worshippers, Mohamed, does not hide his joy. "Anything is possible if you have the infrastructure. Usually our mosques are too small and poorly ventilated... Here you have space and it’s nice!" "We are very happy to have been able to celebrate... Very, very, very happy with the very good organization," the imam told franceinfo. According to him, public or collective prayer is "possible only if each worshiper respects the instructions from start to finish".