My First Ied Adha in the US

As everybody knows that Moslem has two biggest holidays, namely Ied Fitri which is celebrated after the holy month Ramadhan and then Ied Adha to commemorate Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son at that time. In 2015, I got a scholarship to study and teach in the US for one academic year started from August 2015 to May 2016. I was lucky that I had a chance to feel how Moslem in America celebrates Ied Adha. Because I stayed in Boston, so in this time, I will share my experience celebrating Ied Adha in Boston.

There are some mosques in Boston but my friend and I decided to go to the biggest mosque in Boston which locates in Roxbury. My friend and I decided to go there by public transport, in this case, was subway, because it might be difficult to find a parking lot and crowded as well. We woke up early and then I went to my friend’s house who just 10 meters away from my house. I lived near the Alewife station, so from our house which is on Mass Ave (short form for Massachusetts Avenue), we just need to walk to go to the station. We walked pass our neighbor’ houses, park, and bridge. It was about 10 minutes’ walk, I guess. We arrived in Alewife station and then we tapped our Charlie card (smart card where you can top it up and use it to get on public transport). We waited in the station and it was about 5 minutes. Then, the train came and we got in to go to the south station.

My friend and I took a picture in front of
Roxbury Mosque after we prayed for Ied Adha.

The Mosque is in Roxbury Street and we cannot go there directly from Alewife station. We need to change the train to the orange line. Take red line from Alewife station and choose the train which goes either to Braintree or Mattapan. There will be eight stops from Alewife station to Downtown Crossing station (Alewife – Davis – Porter – Harvard – Central – Kendal/MIT – Charles MGH – Park St – Downtown Crossing). Get off in Downtown Crossing station to change with were a number of Moslem who comes from different countries, such as India, Palestine, Indonesia, Malaysia; so the pray was held in a building in front of the mosque so it could accommodate all the visitors who come to pray.

Orange line. There are two orange line and choose the one which goes to Forest Hill station. There are six stops from Downtown Crossing to go to Roxbury (Downtown Crossing – China Town – Tufts Medical Center – Back Bay – Mass Ave – Ruggles – Roxbury). From Roxbury station, we just need to walk about 5 minutes to reach the mosque. Because there

I thought that we were late because they had done with their prayer. But wait, I saw some people just come in and they prayed. After prayer, people went to the mosque to meet with other Moslem and to enjoy the foods which were provided by the mosque. There were a number of foods but do not imagine that you will find grilled lamb meat or beef meat. We ate some foods and got some water, then we decided to go home and cooked together in my friend’s house. I did not see any Moslem slaughtered any cows or goat at in the US, maybe because of the regulation or some other reasons. We cooked together and enjoyed the meals together. We also invited our friends to enjoy the meals together.

At least, know I know how Moslem in the US celebrates their Ied Adha. In my point of view, Ied Adha in Indonesia is better compared with the one in the US because people can slaughter the animals, distribute the meet for those who deserve, cook together, enjoy the meal together, and smile together.