Chhabed Sathee, from Philadelphia: It is not an Eid season, but Muslims are flocking to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Muslim men and women walk everywhere in every street and alley of the city. The 3-day Muna (Muslim Ummah of North America) conference began last Friday (August 18) at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Thousands of devout Muslims gathered at the convention center to participate in the conference. As of last Friday evening, none of Philadelphia’s 95 hotels had an empty room. Also, hotel bookings in about 10 nearby cities around Philadelphia are in the final stage. About 30 reporters from New York have gone to Philadelphia to gather news for this year’s Muna conference.
Thousands of devout Muslims gathered for Friday prayers at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Most of them are said to be Bangladeshis. It is believed that 80 percent of the 15/16 thousand devout Muslims who participated in this conference are Bangladeshis. Wherever you go from one end of the city to the other, Bengali speakers can be heard talking. The organizers are proud to see that Bangladeshis have participated together.
Munar National Committee President Haroon Or Rashid, Maulana Mahmudul Hasan, Maulana Lutfar Rahman, Abdus Salam Azadi and Ahmed Abu Obaidullah addressed the conference on Friday.
Islamic thinker and Maulana Dr. Mizanur Rahman Azhari arrived in Philadelphia from Malaysia to attend the Muna conference. He will address the conference on Saturday afternoon. The three-day conference will continue till August 20. In the conference, he will give his valuable analytical speech in the light of Quran and Hadith as a special speaker. As Mizanur Rahman Azhari’s name was included to the end time, people’s interest and demand to attend the conference increased twofold. The 13,576-seat, 1 million-square-foot Pennsylvania Convention Center is expected to be packed Saturday afternoon.
BP/SM
