The day of Eid will either be on Saturday May 23 or Sunday May 24, inshaAllah. It will be decided for sure by Friday midnight and posted here. Stay tuned. Please read below regarding the Eid Prayer at KIC.
Michigan law exempts places of Religious Worship from the stay at home order. According to Executive Order 2020-77 signed on May 7, 2020 by Governor Whitmer – No individual is subject to penalty for engaging in or traveling to engage in religious worship at a place of religious worship.
Watch a video by Imam Nauman on detailed logistics of the Eid Prayer at KIC and Community Concerns:
CLICK HERE TO WATCH
The Board of Trustees of the Kalamazoo Islamic Center (KIC) has approved the holding of Eid Prayers in a restricted manner and FOR THOSE WHO PRE-REGISTER FOR AN AVAILABLE TIME SLOT. Please read everything below then proceed to register if you will attend.
The following rules will have to be followed if attending the Eid Prayer:
- No children allowed.
- Can not enter KIC if you have been sick or in close proximity to anyone with COVID-19 symptoms within the past 14 days.
- Will bring your own prayer rug, pray on marked spots, and wear a mask when visiting KIC.
- Will follow all the rules set forth at KIC to prevent the spread of disease including social distancing and anything else the Security team deems necessary.
- Will only enter KIC 10 minutes or less before the prayer time slot you register for.
- Will not socialize or loiter on KIC premises before or after the prayer.
There will be prayers every 30 minutes from 8:00am to 11:00am for those who registered. Each prayer will last 5-10 minutes and you have to leave promptly after the end of prayer.
The khutbah will be live streamed on Youtube at 12:00pm on Imam Nauman’s Youtube channel:
CLICK HERE TO VISIT
Eid Prayer Registration for Men (click on a time to register)
Eid Prayer Registration for Women (click on a time to register)
If you have registered for a time slot by mistake then please leave a comment below asking to delete your name from that time slot.
Community Concerns and FAQs
Q1. How is it possible to maintain social distancing during Eid Prayer?
A1. KIC can accommodate over 400 people but we are only allowing 25 men and 10 women to pray during any given pre-registered time slot. Prayer spots have been marked and ensure everyone will maintain at least 24 square feet of space around them. In addition to social distancing, every attendee has to agree to wear a mask and bring their own prayer rug and are only allowed to stay for the duration of the prayer they registered for, with no socializing or loitering around. Hand sanitizers will also be made available to the attendees.
Q2. According the Governor Whitmer, only 10 people are allowed to gather. Are we breaking the law?
A2. This rule does not apply to places of Religious Worship. According to Executive Order 2020-77 signed on May 7, 2020 by Governor Whitmer – Consistent with prior guidance, neither a place of religious worship nor its owner is subject to penalty for allowing religious worship at such place. No individual is subject to penalty for engaging in or traveling to engage in religious worship at a place of religious worship.
Q3. Why are 25 men being allowed, but only 10 women?
A3. In order to maintain proper social distancing and keep cars to a minimum in the parking lot, we do not want to allow more than 35 people at a time to attend the Eid prayers. Normally more men attend the masjid compared to women, so it was decided to allocate more spots to them. However, so as not to exclude any sister from attending, additional jamat timings will be considered if all of the women’s time slots become full. If you would like to attend together as a family but had to register for different time slots then please leave a comment (comments are private) and let us know the names of all the family members and we will try to register you for a time slot where everyone can “fit.”
Eid prayer very well organized with all the social distancing protocols maintained better than many other places in town. Kudos to the organizers.