Minneasota: Eid also a call to buy

 
Photo by Glen Stubbe , Star Tribune

Tukri Baad removed his shoes before taking his sons into Khalid Binu Waliid Mosque in Minneapolis. Mohamed, 12, and Rawi, 11, removed the shoes they got as Eid presents; their brothers are Jabril, 2, and Yusef, right. The family returned to the Mall of America after prayers.

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Twin Cities Muslims celebrated the end of the monthlong fast of Ramadan by hitting area malls.

By Chris Serres, Star Tribune
Friday October, 12, 2007

On Friday, warm handshakes, calls of "Ahlan wa sahlan" ("hello and welcome" in Arabic) and the unmistakable smell of curry greeted thousands of shoppers as they poured into shops on W. Lake Street in Minneapolis to celebrate the first day of Eid al-Fitr, a three-day festival that marks the end of the monthlong fast of Ramadan. It is the biggest shopping day of the year for Muslims, and unlike busy holiday shopping days at, say, Mall of America, decidedly tranquil. The African Chamber of Commerce in Minneapolis estimates that Somali retailers in the Twin Cities will make about $4 million over the three-day holiday. "It's like everyone just woke up from a long hibernation," said Abdullahi Hassan, owner of a restaurant on W. Lake Street.

Tukri Baad, 42, a local cabdriver, spends most weekdays taking orders from strangers who have no idea that he was once a distinguished judge in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

Sadia Jama used henna paste to decorate Nimo Muhamed’s hands Friday for Eid at her booth at Minneapolis’ Suuqa Karmel, the oldest Somali mall in Minnesota. Jama charges $15 to decorate just the hands, or $30 for hands and ankles Glen Stubbe , Star Tribune

On this day, however, Baad said he felt "like a champion." For the past month, he had consumed just one meal a day and, in keeping with Islamic teaching, focused nearly all his free time on spiritual reflection. Shopping for unnecessary items was out of the question.

The month of privation had left Baad and his family with a pent-up desire to shop. They set off for the Mall of America on Thursday night, within hours after Ramadan officially ended, and bought brand-new pairs of $60 sneakers, with wheels on the heel, for his two oldest sons, Mohamed, 12, and Rawi, 11.

"We finished the race, and now we can celebrate," Baad said.

The festival of Eid al-Fitr, which means "feast of fastbreaking" in Arabic, has always been a major shopping day for Muslims. But this year, Somali merchants said they expect sales to be particularly brisk because the holiday fell on a Friday, which enabled Somalis to turn the festival into a long weekend.

At Suuqa Karmel, the largest and oldest Somali shopping mall in the Twin Cities, the parking lot was full of out-of-state license plates -- including some from as far away as Missouri and Kansas. Jamad Nur, who owns a clothing shop in the mall, said her sales on Thursday night alone were almost as much as during the entire month of Ramadan.

The festival is also lucrative for Somali salons, where women gather to have their hands and bodies decorated with henna, a brownish-green paste that lasts about two weeks. On Friday afternoon, Sadia Jama, a beautician in Suuqa Karmel, confessed that her "hands are tired" after decorating the hands and ankles of more than 15 women. Jama makes $15 to $30 per customer.

Even so, it will take more than a single weekend to make up for a monthlong sales drought, some merchants said. "It will take us the rest of the year," Hassan, the restaurant owner, said.

Chris Serres • 612-673-4308  - Chris Serres • [email protected]

Source: Star Tribune, Oct 12, 2007