'It's about togetherness': Thousands gather in Saskatoon to celebrate the end of Ramadan

Thousands of Muslims came together at the Prairieland Park to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr (EID).

EID is a three day event to celebrate the end of month-long dawn until sunset fasting of Ramadan.

“It’s all about togetherness, and we come together. We pray together. We play together. We fast together. At the end, we're all together,” said Jannat Fatimah.

Approximately 10,000 people were at the EID event at Prairieland Park Friday morning. The Saskatoon Dawah and Community Centre lead a prayer to help kick-off EID.

“We have to reward ourselves for the effort. We need reasons to get together as a community,” said Outreach Committee member for the Islamic Association of Saskatchewan Aqeel Wahab.

The gathering is the largest in the province, with over 60 nationalities and dozens of languages represented at Prairieland Park.

“A lot of Muslims will come together here, and the really important thing is there's no difference between people. Your job title doesn't matter. The only thing really matters that matters is how good of a person you are,” said Wahab.

Ramadan began on March 23 and ended April 21st and is marked by prayer, giving and fasting. Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

“Ramadan is really the month about gratitude, and there's a month where we fast, and then at the end, EID is when we bring it all together, celebrate EID, be with family,” said Dawah.

For practicing Muslims like Ehstsham Zahid, the month offers a time of reflection.

“When they're like, let's say homeless people that can't eat for certain hours or certain days, so this is like a test for us to pass that and that's one way that I look into it,” he said.

Eid allows Muslims to get together for meals and exchange gifts.

“The main thing is we'll eat and then we'll go out. We'll celebrate over there or we'll go to another family's house,” said Fatimah. “All the girls love to get together.”

Muslims also encourage non-Muslims to celebrate EID with them.