BY MUNEEB NASIR
One of the first, large Eid gatherings to take place in North America was held in Toronto at the Queen Elizabeth building in the CNE grounds in 1975.
It was a historic day for the community as it was the largest gathering of the city’s Muslims to ever take place.
The prayers were led by Dr. Ahmad Sakr and the gathering numbered a few thousand people. Muslims came out in their national dress and mixed and fraternized with each other.
It was truly a glorious and memorable Eid.
The CNE Eid was the result of a collaboration of the Jami Mosque and the Islamic Foundation of Toronto. (The Muslim community in the 70s was a much more egalitarian one and lacked any pronounced fault lines).
Mohamed Nasir, the late Mahmoud Khaial, and Mohammed Jinnah, were among the visionary leaders who took this step to bring Muslims together.
Mohamed Nasir and Mohammed Jinnah, stalwarts of the community, would become the driving force who would develop and establish this gathering that came to be called the ‘CNE Eid’
Over the next few years, they were joined by many others – men, women and youths - who saw the beauty of bringing together Muslims of diverse backgrounds and the great value in having this large Eid gathering.
In these early years, the CNE Eid preparations consumed the Jami Mosque and Islamic Foundation communities for weeks prior to the great day and reached a frenzied pace the night before Eid.
Numerous intra-organizational meetings would be held to discuss the event - the facility booking, advertising, volunteer coordination, choosing the Imam, line collection, finances etc.
On confirming the date of Eid, a slew of volunteers from both mosques – entire families, along with their iftar meals - would descend on the facility to set it up. Young people would be mentored by the late Anwar Saeed, who took on his role of volunteer coordinator with a passion.
The CNE Eid was not always held in the CNE grounds as facilities were sometimes not available.
On occasion, it was held at other facilities, such as Lamport Stadium, the International Centre, and Centennial Park Stadium in Etobicoke, but is would always be referred to as the CNE Eid.
As the Muslims community grew larger in the 1980’s and 1990s, others joined and some left to establish other Eid gatherings.
The Islamic Foundation established a large Eid prayer in Pickering in the 1990s and other organizations retreated into their mosques for Eid prayers.
However, the CNE Eid always endured.
Recently, the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) has stepped up and taken over the mantle of keeping this venerable Toronto institution going.
This year the CNE Eid will be held at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday, October 1 at 10 am.
Eid Mubarak!
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