For Muslims in America, Eid al-Fitr comes as pandemic eases

As they celebrate the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims are once again seeking ways to balance social and religious rituals with coronavirus concerns

For Qassim Abdullah, this year’s Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr marked a bit of a milestone: Now fully vaccinated, the 66-year-old finally felt comfortable enough to return to his mosque for the Eid prayer today, his first time back since the start of the pandemic. “It's overwhelming and exciting,” the Maryland resident said. “It's very nice to see the community. ...It's just a beautiful feeling.” There were changes: He wore two masks and didn’t stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other worshippers as he normally would have during prayers. But Eid still felt more celebratory than last year. “It is definitely much better,” he said. “I don’t think it is very close to normal (yet) but it’s going that way. At least we’re going out of our houses.”