About 700 Muslims gathered Friday morning to celebrate the end of their annual fast and the beginning of a new religious center in Glendale.
People wearing everything from three-piece suits to traditional robes and shawls came to the Pacific Community Center gym to offer the Eid Prayer in celebration of the end of Ramadan, a month-long fast.
Men and teenage boys sat on one carpet, women and young children on another, as the group repeated the rhythmic lines of the prayer. All were pointed toward the eastern corner of the gym, facing Mecca, birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad. Everyone had removed their shoes for the ceremony — dress shoes, Ugg boots, sneakers and Crocs lining the walls of the gym.
Islamic Center of Glendale President Abo-Elkhier E. Serag announced that last month the center bought a site for worship at 700 S. Adams St.
Friday prayer services have already commenced at the center, which was the Church of Perfect Liberty, part of a Japanese branch of Zen Buddhism.