Nagpur: With almost all sects of Muslims completing 30 rozas on Friday and with the sighting of the crescent moon, Eid will be celebrated by all on Saturday. The sighting of the moon brought relief to a Sunni sect that had begun the fasting on May 18 and had completed 29 rozas till Friday. “With the moon being seen on Friday, we all will also observe Eid along with others on Saturday,” said Haji Ayub Sher Mohammad, one of the leaders of the sect that follows Mufti Abdul Qadeer.Preparations were in full swing at the different Idgahs or open spaces in the city where Muslims offer Eid prayers. “Idgah is the space open to sky where our prophet used to offer special prayers. Eid is the only time when prayers are held in the open to accommodate a large number of people,” says Altaf Ahmad, president of the Kutchi Memon Jamaat, Sadar.“For this reason even during rainy season we do not cover the place and prayers continue even it rains. If it is already raining then the venue shifts to the mosque,” Ahmad informs. The 150-year-old Idgah in Sadar sees more than 3,000 people coming to worship. “The place has been washed with water and sheets will be spread for tomorrow morning,” he said. The prayers here will begin at 7.15am with a ‘Bayan’ which will be delivered by Maulana Tauqeer followed by namaz and khutba.Different routes are to be followed while reaching and leaving Idgah as the idea is to meet and greet as many people as possible. “In the mosque, the people from one locality gather but at an Idgah they come from all over the city which serves the purpose of community building,” says Mohd Haroon Noraani, secretary of Jafar Nagar Tanzeem Muslim Naujawane. Here the sprawling Idgah spread over 63,000sqft receives a 7,000 strong congregation. “At 8.20am Khwaja Izhar Ahmad will deliver the Bayan which is detailing of the Islamic conduct while the namaz will be lead by Maulana Rehmatullah Khan,” he added.Besides the Idgah, Eid prayers will also be held later in all the mosques for those who are not able to reach open venues.More than 3,000 Shia Muslims in the city will be gathering at Jamaatkhana adjacent to the Haideri mosque in Mominpura. The hour long prayers will be offered at 8.30am and again at 10.30am and will be led by Maulana Mazhar Hassan, informs Bilal Hassan, a representative of the sect.

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