OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Thursday, the Muslim community celebrated Eid, which is the end of Ramadan.
Ramadan is a month-long religious practice where Muslims fast during sunlight hours and fill the day with prayer.
"During the breaking of the fast we would sometimes have a minimum of 100 people, maximum of 200 coming to break the fast together, so you can imagine about the social aspect of it where people would come and see each other and check on each other support each other. That did not happen, we lost that sense of social activity because of covid," said Imam Jamal Daoudi of the American Muslim Institute.
Eid is typically a time to hold gatherings to visit with neighbors and eat food, but the pandemic has changed a few of the historic practices.
"Friday prayer, because of the social distancing, we have to have registration for Friday prayer as we did for Eid today. Attendance was by registration so we limited that to 120 people upstairs and downstairs and that's it. We had to turn any back who did not register," said Imam Daoudi.
The Imams said they are outgrowing their education department as the Muslim community continues to grow in Omaha.
"We have approximately 180 students. Sometimes you have a family who has four members or three members so a total of 180, and we have a lot on the waiting list, so we need to expand," said Imam Daoudi.
As people continue to get vaccinated, the Tri-Faith community is eager to have guests of all religious backgrounds visit the different faith centers.
Visit Tri-Faith's website for more on how to get involved.
