Staff Reporter: Expatriate Bangladeshis in the United States have celebrated Eid-ul-Adha, the biggest religious festival of Muslims, in a joyous atmosphere. Local time on Saturday (July 9) morning, millions of devout Muslims took part in Eid congregations at Bangladeshi-run mosques, adjacent grounds, park grounds and church grounds in different states.
Eid Jamaat was held this time under the management of more than 3,000 mosques in the United States. Of these, 2,500 Eid congregations were held in the open field and the rest of the congregations were held in the hall rooms of the mosque and church.
The number of mosques and Muslim religious educational institutions in the United States has increased by 31 percent in the last two decades. The number of mosques in the United States was 1,209 in 2000, increasing to 2,106 in 2011, and 2,796 in the latest census in 2020. The largest number of mosques are 343 in New York, 304 in California, 224 in Texas, 157 in Florida, 109 in Illinois and 141 in New Jersey.
Eid congregations start at 7 a.m. in more than 500 Bangladeshi-run mosques or adjoining grounds across the United States. Apart from this, Eid Jamaat is also held in the mosques run by the citizens of other countries till 8:30 am. The local administration took special measures for the security of Eid Jamaat.
U.S. senators, congressmen, congresswomen, governors, city mayors and councilors attended Eid greetings at hundreds of Eidgah grounds across the United States.
An Eid Jamaat was organized by the Jamaica Muslim Center (JMC) at the Thomas Edison School ground in Jamaica at 8 am. An Eid-ul-Azha congregation was held at the Susan B. Anthony School Grounds on Hillside Avenue at 8:30 a.m, organized by the Arafa Islamic Center in Jamaica.
At the initiative of Jamaica Mosque Mission Center (Haji Camp Mosque), 4 Eid congregations were held in the mosque building. 8:15 a.m, 8:15 p.m, 8:15 p.m, and 9:15 p.m. Here prayers are arranged separately for women.
Eid-ul-Azha is organized by the American Muslim Center (AMC) in Jamaica. Special congregation will be held at 8 am at AMC building. The other two congregations are at the local Rufus King Park at 8am and 10am, respectively.
Organized by New York Eid Gah, Eid-ul-Azha 5 congregations are held at the Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights at 8:30 am, 8:30 am, 8:30 am, 9:30 am and 10:30 am respectively.
On the day of Eid-ul-Azha, a congregation was organized by the Al Amin Mosque and Islamic Center in Astoria at 8 am on the local 38th Street (36th Avenue and 38th Avenue).
Meanwhile, the largest Eid Jamaat was held in the open field at 8 am in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, thanks to the efforts of devout Bangladeshi expatriates. The congregation was held at the Hormmel Stadium in Medford, near Boston, at the Islamic Cultural Center of Medford (ICCM).
Also, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Virginia, California, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Delaware, Georgia, Delaware, Georgia, Expatriate Bangladeshis in DC and Kentucky hold Eid congregations at different times. U.S. politicians praised the Muslim community for attending these Eidgahs.
It should be noted that at present in the United States, the first is the Christian religion and the second is the Jews. In 2016, the Muslim population in the United States was 3.45 million, which is 1.1 percent of the total population.
In 2015, the Jewish population in the United States was 1.8 percent. On the other hand, the number of Muslims was 1 percent of the total population. Five years ago, the Muslim population was 0.9 percent.
The study shows that the number of Muslims will stand at 1.8 percent in the next two decades. The total number of Muslim population will be more than 8 million. At that time, the Jewish population will stand at 1.4 percent.
The study also found that the United States has the highest rate of conversion to Islam recently. If this trend continues, Muslims will emerge as the second largest religious group in the United States. And it will be by 2040.
According to the Pew Research Center, 1 lakh Muslims are added to the United States every year. This is due to the high rate of population growth among Muslim immigrants as well as American Muslims. The number of Muslims is growing much faster than the Jewish population.
BP/SM