Muslims in Cebu celebrate Eid al-Adha at the Plaza Independencia, Cebu City. | Tonee Despojo
Habib Diator, an employee of the Bureau of Customs, gathered his family on Tuesday morning (August 21) to profess their faith in a congregational prayer in celebration of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice in Muslim traditions.
Nearly 2,000 Muslims, including Diator and his family, converged in Plaza Independencia in Cebu City for the prayer.
The 51-year-old native of Marawi City said he would never want to miss the celebration of the Eid al-Adha as it is among the most important festivities in their religion.
“It is here that we are gathered to show our sacrifice in the name of our faith. We are also eager to come because the gathering is sort of a reunion with our other relatives,” Diator said.
Muslims started to converge at 6 a.m., placing their prayer mats on the floor towards the direction of Mecca. The same practice is also observed in the eight registered mosques in Cebu City. The Muslim families who cannot be accommodated in the mosques, especially those who are just temporarily staying in Cebu, went to the plaza.
National Commission for Muslim Filipinos Director for the Visayas Malo Manongiring said there are about 8,000 Muslims residing in Cebu City and nearly 500,000 in Central Visayas.
In the mosques, Manongiring said those who brought some offerings will distribute it to the other Muslims.
The Cebu City Government has provided packed meals for the Muslims who attended the congregation prayer.