This year, Lyna will celebrate Eid in a small group. The pandemic makes him give up the usual family meals and visits to friends, highlights of the end of Ramadan. But this is not the only tradition undermined by the Covid. “We will limit travel, especially to the mosque for prayer. As a precaution, my mother prefers not to go“, explains the Parisian.
Others do not plan to do without the ceremony. To be sure to have a place Mehdi is ready to get up early “at six o’clock” if necessary. “I will make my arrangements to arrive as soon as possible. I will try to attend the first prayer around 9 a.m.”
Two offices at the Great Mosque
At the Great Mosque of Paris, nearly 15,000 worshipers meet each year for Eid al-Fitr. It was therefore necessary to adapt the course of the day so that the sanitary gauges were respected. “Before the service the mosque will already be full, explains Khaled Larbi, referent imam of the Great Mosque. It is for this reason that the Rector has chosen to do two offices..”
The floor of the mosque is lined with red and green squares, indications for the faithful, put in place since the first deconfinement in 2020. “When a devotee is in a green square, he has no one in front, or behind, to the right, or to the left. Each has four square meters around it“, continues Khaled Larbi.
For those who have not been able to return, the mosque is planning a live broadcast.
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