Liberia: Muslims Celebrate Eid in Grand Style

Muslims around the world on Wednesday, April 10, celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, with prayer, reunions with family and friends, new clothes, lots of food and felicitations.

And like celebrants in other parts of the world, Liberian Muslims were in joyous moods as they thanked the Almighty God for carrying them through the month-long Islamic fast and prayer rituals. Mosques across the country, where people began trooping as early as 8 am, were full to capacity.

By 9:15 a.m., people began making their way to the homes of loved ones, an Eid tradition known as house hopping (going from home to another) that involves serving lots of food to both Muslims and non-Muslims.

It is a notable tradition that people celebrate Eid by getting dressed to the nines, which is why some jokingly refer to it as the Muslim Gala. While many jubilant celebrants converged at various hotspots or public places across the country to celebrate the holiday, the actual center of attraction was the Invincible Sports Park, at Fish Market. They were clad in colorful traditional garments, with some accessorized with opulent jewels or swipes of dark kajal eyeliner. Others chose more casual attire.

The Park, constructed by former President George Weah two years ago, is becoming famous for drawing a diverse crowd of people, especially children, for festive activities. The facility was jam-packed on Wednesday, April 10, as people gathered to merry-make.

Celebrants began trooping here as early as 10 am, as many quickly spotted friends and relatives, greeting them with cries of, “Eid Mubarak,” or “blessed Eid,” as they embraced. Many said they had come to the park for different reasons.

“We are happy to celebrate this day,” Musa Kromah, a resident of Paynesville who brought his two daughters, told the Daily Observer in an interview. “I bring my girls to make them happy. It took a lot of sacrifices for us to make it through, and we are grateful to Allah.”

Kromah said that there is no better time to make the kids happy than during Eid. “We have to put smiles on the faces of our kids, and there is no better time than today. I’m glad that Allah has given them as blessings. It is our responsibility to take care of them,” he said.

“We have not only come here to take photos and merry make with our wives and children, but we have also come to meet friends and relatives who were able to make it during the fasting,” Mohammed Konneh, a father of two, said. “It can be tough and it is an exciting thing when our friends and relatives can make it.”

President Boakai Fetes Muslims to a Dinner, Sets Tune for Eid Celebration

Perhaps the tune for the Eid celebration could have been set by no better person than President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, who on Tuesday, April 9, feted Liberian Muslims to an Iftar dinner.

The Ramadan Dinner, held at the EJS Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, brought together scores of the Islamic faithful.  

The President, in a brief speech, emphasized the utmost importance of unity and understanding among Liberians — stressing that while the Christian majority is embraced, the Muslim community is also recognized for its richness and importance to the country.

He noted that beliefs contribute to the beauty of the collective identity of the nation and that the strength of Liberia lies in its ability to unite as one people, united in shared aspirations for peace, prosperity, and progress.

He urged Liberians to embrace their differences, viewing them not as obstacles but as opportunities to learn, grow, and flourish as a nation. 

“In diversity, there is beauty, and there is strength,” the President reminded his audience, encouraging them to gather around the tables, sharing in the joy of fellowship and breaking fast together, and exemplifying that sentiment. 

He lauded everyone for honoring his invitation to break their fast together and wished everyone a blessed Eid.

Call for Islamic Holiday Reechoes

With 12 percent of the nation’s population professing the Islamic faith, according to the 2022 Population and Housing Census, there have been calls for the government to see the need and enactment of an Islamic holiday.

Every year at the close of the Ramadan prayers, Chief Imam Ali Krayee and other Islamic leaders often call on the government to recognize the contributions of Muslims to the Liberian state by granting them a national holiday. 

Both Ramadan and Abraham Day are global Islamic holidays that are not celebrated by the Liberian state.

During these days, schools and public facilities are allowed to remain open, unlike Christmas and Easter, when schools and public centers are closed. However, Easter is celebrated on a Sunday, which is already a non-working day of the week. 

“Once again we are ending Ramadan with a heavy heart,” Krayee said in his end of  Ramadan sermon on Wednesday, April 10, at the Alhaji Souleymane Mosque on King Sao Bosso Street, Monrovia. “It is our responsibility to remind the system. That system has worked against human, genuine unity, in this country for ages.”

“This year some of our children are forced to go to school simply because the Republic of Liberia still refuses to recognize that Muslims are first-class citizens of this country,” Krayee said.

The African Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU) is the only institution of higher learning that suspended classes in celebration of this year’s Ramadan to allow the Muslim staff and students to celebrate Ramadan.

The school administration, in a memo, noted that the suspension of classes would have no detrimental effects on the Islamic staff and students’ academic activities.

Imam Krayee called on President Joseph Boakai to work with the legislature to pass a law creating an Islamic holiday in Liberia.

“We have endured this injustice for more than 176 years. This country can be united and

make progress without noise if only we recognize the human rights and citizen’s rights of everyone who is a Liberian, so we pray that the government will see the need to do what is right.”

The call for an Islamic holiday has long been flagged by leaders of the Muslim community, and some lawmakers. 

In 2020, the Movement for Islamic Holidays in Liberia, an Advocacy group, called on the Legislature to pass into law two major Islamic festivals–Eid al-Fitr, known as Ramadan Day, and Eid al-Adha also called Abraham Day as national holidays.

Also, in 2021, Edwin Snowe, Bomi County Senator, submitted a bill before his colleagues

to make Easter Monday a public holiday for Christians, and Eid al-Adha, and Eid al-Fitr holidays for Muslims.
Snowe reportedly received threats from some members of the Christian community, with some accusing him of doing it for political interest as he sought elective office in a Muslim-concentrated constituency.