South Florida Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan

More than 500 followers gathered Sunday in what used to be a Catholic church to celebrate Eid — the Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. It was the first time the joyful holiday’s end had been celebrated at the new home of the Masjid Ul Mumineen congregation, which bought the church in March and quickly transformed it into a mosque. They removed the pews, added a carpet brought from Saudi Arabia, put up Arabic religious decorations and placed symbols that indicate the direction to Mecca — the direction toward which they pray.

“For the first time I saw a huge crowd here for prayer,” said Sabrina Mahin, a member of the Sunni Muslim mosque at 25201 SW 137th Ave. “In America, you don’t find Muslims that are bonded together, but here we see many Muslims united.”

Early Sunday, the congregation received advice, instruction and prayed to the Almighty as part of the Eid service.

“It’s one of the best days of our religion,” said Mohammad Bhuiyan, director of the Masjid Ul Mumineen mosque. “We have no more fasting until one year; we are all so happy.” (...)