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Muslims in Gabon flock to mosques for Idd-Ul-Adha prayers

Other News Materials 17 November 2010 12:48 (UTC +04:00)
Mosques in Libreville, the Gabonese capital, were filled on Tuesday by faithfuls who had come for prayers during the Idd-Ul-Adha festival, which is also called the Sheep festival.
Muslims in Gabon flock to mosques for Idd-Ul-Adha prayers

Mosques in Libreville, the Gabonese capital, were filled on Tuesday by faithfuls who had come for prayers during the Idd-Ul-Adha festival, which is also called the Sheep festival, Xinhua reported.
  
Despite the heavy rains in the capital, mosques were filled by thousands of faithfuls who had come to listen to the Imams reading religious messages from the Koran.

In Gabon, this day was dedicated to finding peace between Muslims and non-Muslims.

The level of attendance in mosques was relatively higher than the normal days. "It's our end of year festival and therefore we must mark it with a lot of joy," Imam Moubamba said.

"The objective of all Muslims is to please God so that we can be with Him one day in Paradise," he added. He concluded by saying that "to please God is to love Him, fear Him and obey Him."

The prayers were followed by the slaughter of sheep. This festival in Gabon is a moment of sharing between families and friends.

During the day, Muslim faithfuls also shared meat with the poor. It is a day of reconciliation and everyone is asked to forgive those who might have wronged them.

It is estimated that only one percent of the African country's 1.5 million people are Muslims, with 90 percent of Muslims in Gabon living in Libreville, mostly immigrants from West Africa.

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