LOS ANGELES: Roughly half a million American Muslims celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr, or feast of fast-breaking, across Southern California on Saturday, Oct. 13. Several thousand Muslims visited Anaheim Convention Center to pray and listen to a sermon delivered by world renowned scholar, Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi.

Muslims also turned out in large numbers at other places such as the Fairplex in Pomona and Los Angeles Convention Center. The prayers, which mark the end of Ramadan, are one of the two most important celebrations in the Islamic faith. After the prayers were conducted, worshippers greeted each other with the traditional greeting "Eid Mubarak" and "taqabbalallah ta'atakum," or "may God accept your deeds."

Eid-ul-Fitr follows the month-long fast of Ramadan. During this period, Muslims abstain from food, drink and other worldly pleasures and seek to strengthen their faith and reach out to the needy in the community. In Southern California, several mosques held interfaith iftars and invited neighbors, friends, religious leaders and public officials to break the fast with them. A major annual community service project called Humanitarian Day was also held in various cities in America as well as two cities in Africa to provide basic necessities to the less fortunate.

Over the weekend, Muslims made social visits with friends and family members after Eid prayers. They dressed in elegant, vibrant attire for the occasion. Families attended cultural bazaars, and women and girls had their hands painted with henna. People also exchanged sweets and gifts, prepared special ethnic fare such as seewaiyan (a South Asian dessert), baklava (a Middle Eastern sweet) and spread the feelings of joy, peace and brotherhood.

"This is a time for the Muslim community to come together in the spirit of joy, peace and brotherhood," said Munira Syeda, communications coordinator of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Area (CAIR-LA). The second most important celebration, Eid-ul-Adha, occurs after the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.