Community to come together for outdoor prayer event
Plans have been announced for a communal outdoor event to celebrate the end of Ramadan.
The Union of Muslim Organisations (UMO) for Walsall has announced that it will be holding its Eid ul-Fitr outdoor prayer event at Broadway West Playing Fields in Bescot, marking the third year of the event being held there.
It will help to mark the end of the fasting month for Muslims across Walsall, a time for the community to worship together and offer Fitra (around £5 per head) or charity to help the less well-off to celebrate the Eid too with their family.
The 2022 event attracted around 4,000 people and, in 2023, UMO said it was expecting more people as several Mosques have said they will be joining the congregation at Eid in the Park.
It will also see the congregation of Shah Jalal Mosque in Caldmore join as their place of worship has been demolished and a replacement is due to be rebuilt.
The Eid ul-Fitr prayer at Broadway West Playing Fields is open to all, regardless of affiliations to any Mosque, and is expected to fall on either Friday, April 21, or Saturday, April 22, based on the sighting of the new crescent moon.
A formal announcement of the exact date of the Eid in the Park festivities is expected on April 20, when it will be known if the moon has been sighted or not and the event will held in the park subject to weather.
UMO has also said that if the weather is unsuitable for outdoor prayer, it will be moved to indoor settings and if the moon is sighted on Thursday evening at sunset time, Eid will be announced on Friday, starting at 10am.
If it is not sighted, the Muslim community will fast for one more day to complete fasting for a maximum of 30 days and Eid will be celebrated on Saturday, starting at 10am.
Mohammed Arif, Interim Chairman of UMO said: "Arrangements for Eid at Broadway West Playing Fields in Bescot will be held with an expected turnout of thousands. people joining us for the prayers.
"We expect people to arrive from 9am with the prayer performed promptly at 10.00am.
"Open Eid has been the tradition in Islam to bring the people together to celebrate this joyous day.
"Very importantly, in Walsall it will relieve the local streets from traffic congestion as large number of people look to find place to park due to shortage of parking in mosque car parks.
"There will be a wet weather contingency for indoor prayers at each of the participating Mosques as additional congregational Eid prayers will be organised due to the large number of people expected. Indoor prayers will run from 7.00am onwards.
"Further details will be provided closer to the time.
"I would like to extend my thanks to Walsall Council’s Safety Advisory Group and Clean and Green Services for their assistance in helping us to prepare and help in the organisation of the event."
