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Khadija Talbi with her husband and her son Omar. The family drove from Hamilton to Auckland to celebrate Eid with the wider community. Khadija Talbi and her family drove up from Hamilton especially for the bigger celebration in Auckland. “It’s great for kids to feel the spirit of Eid, and get a strong connection with everyone,” Talbi said. She wants her son Omar to experience the joy of Eid, she said.
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Two men embrace amid the Eid celebrations at Eden Park. “We are all Muslim, different ethnicity, but we’re all here for the same reason,” she said.
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Over 12,000 Muslims are expected to gather in New Zealand’s largest sports stadium to celebrate the end of Ramadan. (File photo) It was cancelled in 2020 as New Zealand was at Covid-19 alert level 2, which saw restrictions on the number of people who were able to be in one place. Trust chairman Javed Dadabhai said 6000 people are expected for the morning prayer session. A further 6000 are expected to be there throughout the day.
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Eid day in Eden Park ultimately helps the young Muslim community create a distinctive Kiwi-Muslim identity. (File photo) “The prayer time in the morning is when you get to see a lot of people in one place,” he said.