Eid'l Adha prayer: For Marawi evacuees in Tacloban to return home

TACLOBAN, CITY, Sept. 1  -- Muslims who fled the war-torn Marawi City observed Eid'l Adha with a special prayer -- to return home.

About 30 internally-displaced persons (IDPs) from Marawi joined a simple Eid'l Adha celebration with Tacloban-based Muslims on Friday, offering prayers inside a mosque and joining a feast at the Leyte National Gymnasium.

Local government officials and some individuals donated food for the feast.

Young mother Farhanah Jamel, 26, said they were praying for the end of war in Marawi -- for them to be able to return home and start anew.

Her husband, who used to be a businessman before the war, was hired to do clerical jobs by the city government.

“Back in Marawi, we’re the one sharing food with others, but now we are struggling to buy food daily to survive,” Jamel shared.

The evacuees, composed of eight families, are temporarily staying in a village hall in Sagkahan district. They are getting support from the city government, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and some private donors.

They have relatives who are based in Tacloban.

“Because of this war, sometimes we ask ourselves if we are really sinners for us to suffer this consequence. Despite hardship, we are thankful that Allah has been guiding us,” Jamel said.

Another IDP Nor-ain Radia, 21, was sad that her education has been interrupted bu the terror attack.

“I want to finish my studies and graduate, but the problem is that I don’t have money to support myself,” said Radia, a graduating nursing student of SMD Foundation Academy in Marawi City.

Radia travelled to this city with her relatives two months ago as condition at the evacuation center in Marawi worsened.

Her parents, who are into rice milling business, have been trapped inside the war-torn city. She has lost contact with them since.

"I'm praying that the war will end soon so we can go back to our village and see if our parents are still there," Radia said.

The city government of Tacloban has given the evacuees training on food preparation and marketing.

 Their delicacies are now being sold in a number of restaurants in the city.

For the evacuees, observing Eid'l Adha is a way to remember their sacrifices, resilience, and the generosity of others in the midst of war in their home city.

Eid'l Adha is the second of two Muslim holidays celebrated worldwide each year, and considered the holier of the two. It honors the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ismaeel, as an act of obedience to God's command. (SQM with reports from Madelene Perez & Reynadel Costillas, OJTs/PNA)