Albanian Muslims are celebrating Eid al-Fitr today, following a month of fasting during Ramadan.
Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, and is usually translated as “Festival of Breaking the Fast”.
In Albania, it traditionally starts with the early morning prayer, family visits, social solidarity and celebrations at home.
However, this year the government didn’t allow Albanian Muslims to pray in the main square and boulevard of Tirana as they always do, citing coronavirus measures.
Instead, prayers took place only in the mosques of the country.
Last night, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that mosques would open for the Eid al-Fitr morning prayer, in contradiction to his announcement a the previous day that Albanians would be under lockdown on Sunday. Following public pressure by Muslims against keeping mosques closed, Rama blamed the opposition for using them for political purposes in their “Imaginary Eid al-Fitr Revolution” and announced the opening of mosques.
