On June 26th, Cordoba House Sunday School organized a jubilant Eid picnic at Battery Park for children and grownups from the Cordoba House community. The festivities included a traditional Eid Takbir, with Music Instructor Mustafa Ulmer adding a creative musical touch playing shakers, tambourines, and West African drums with the children. There were also a variety of entertaining magical shows and group activities for children, such as face-painting, kite flying, basketball, as well as a soccer game. Cordoba House would like to express its deep appreciation to Tehilah Eisenstadt, Cordoba House’s Curriculum Advisor and Director of Education at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism (SAJ), for her attendance, along with her husband actor Simon Feil and their five year old son, Adin Geshem.

This occasion was preceded by a prayer service led by Cordoba House Founder, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, during Eid al-Fitr on June 25th at the Renaissance Westchester Hotel. In the sermon after the Eid prayer, Imam Feisal discussed his personal experience of Ramadan, Lailat al-Qadr (“Night of Power”), and how to taste the inner realities of the Muslim statement of faith (the shahada). He also tackled the spiritual dimensions of the Muslim faith, reminding the community to focus on purifying their hearts from all shortcomings and of the importance of refraining from arrogance. Towards the end, Imam Feisal highlighted that the prosperity of the Muslim community in the United States should motivate Muslims to be better servants to God and to make more positive contributions to society. He concluded by reminding the Muslim community of the limits of the physical life as a motivation to excel in their spiritual lives and in devotion, as well as thanking community leaders from other faiths for attending Eid al-Fitr. The service ended with supplications. Such a blessed occasion would not have been possible without the efforts of the esteemed Eid Committee, which includes Farnaz Shah, Nevine Haider, Silvat Malik, and Razia Syed.