Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre filled to capacity as hundreds gather for Eid al-Fitr

Hundreds from Winnipeg's Muslim community grounded in prayers and celebration to mark the end of Ramadan with the festival of Eid al-Fitr on Sunday.

During the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, which began this year on March 1, many Muslims, excluding young children and people who are sick, elderly or pregnant, got up before dawn to eat suhur, an early morning meal, followed by iftar, an evening meal to break the fast after sunset.

The Manitoba Islamic Association hosted an Eid prayer and sermon at the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre in Winnipeg's St. Boniface neighbourhood, filling the building to capacity with about 450 attendees participating. 

 "We were blessed … to complete the month of Ramadan, fasting during the days, praying during the nights," said Cheikh Ould Moulaye, spokesperson for the association. 

The goal of Eid al-Fitr is to bring the community together in prayer and celebration, Ould Moulaye said, a reason why the festival has to be done in congregation with others and not at home.

That was the drive to bring Eid to the cultural center, but to the community it is relatively new to celebrate the festival in French, and the response from members has been overall positive.

"The community is growing …  and it's probably time now to think about a place where we can have daily prayers, Friday prayer and other prayers here in St. Boniface," he said. 

Ahead of Sunday, the Manitoba Islamic Association sent a link where people could register for Eid to get a better idea of how many members would show up. 

"We didn't have that big kind of intake at the beginning, but it was sold out at the end," Ould Moulaye said, and with hundreds of attendees the room was filled to capacity.

Eid was also celebrated in other parts of Winnipeg including at the RBC Convention Centre.

Namarel Kane was among those at Eid on the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre. 

"It's good to have these moments where everyone is just all together, all the Muslim together," she said "It's really nice to see. I wish we had that every day."

But she wishes there were more celebrations held in French, especially in St. Boniface, where she said there's a growing population of immigrants, including students who come from Africa and mostly speak only French. 

"We used to have it just in English and everyone would go hear the sermon … but wouldn't really understand it," she said. 

"Having it here in French, it's a sense of belonging."

According to Statistics Canada, the proportion of the country's population who reported being Muslim has more than doubled in 20 years, growing from two per cent in 2001 to 4.9 per cent in 2021. 

Ould Moulaye said there are pilot projects studying the possibility of building a Francophone mosque in St. Boniface. 

In the meantime, he said the community shouldn't take the opportunity of coming together on Eid and pray in French as something for granted. 

"It took a lot of effort from pioneers who came here 60 years ago for us to be able to celebrate this prayer in the heart of Saint Boniface," he said.