Kerala mosque, madrasa celebrate Onam in rare spirit of religious unity

Madrasa students celebrate the festival, Muslims win hearts by collecting and donating clothes to poor families of the Hindu community.
Students of Noorul Islam Madrasa, Ramapuram, celebrating Onam. (Photo| EPS)
Students of Noorul Islam Madrasa, Ramapuram, celebrating Onam. (Photo| EPS)

MALAPPURAM: Kerala has rarely witnessed Muslims and Hindus standing together to celebrate Onam. But, this year, some events in connection with the festival in Malappuram district give a message of unity and religious harmony.

Last week, the scenes from a madrasa in the district which hosted Onam celebration for the children of AHLP School Ramapuram, Schoolpadi, were heartwarming. The event would stay in the memory of Keralites for many years. The children laid a flower carpet on the courtyard of Noorul Islam Madrasa, Ramapuram. They sang Onam songs and dressed up as Maveli.
 
After hosting the Onam celebration, the school and madrasa authorities said they were happy to be part of the Onam celebration that sent the world the message of religious harmony.

"The LKG and UKG classes of the school have been functioning in the madrasa building for the past three years. Children from all communities are studying here. When we asked the madrasa authorities the permission to celebrate Onam there, they were happy to do arrangements for the celebration," said Shameer Ramapuram, PTA president of the school.

The committee members of the Huda Musjid, Kokkur, won the hearts of the people by collecting and donating clothes to the 50 poor families of Hindu community as part of their Onam celebration. For them, a mosque should serve all people equally. "The mosque wanted to help the poor people of the Hindu community to celebrate Onam. All are equal before God and as per our belief, donation makes us greater human beings. We always advocate religious harmony and uphold the values of a secular nation," said Mujeeb Kokkur, vice-president of the Masjid Committee. 

When the floods and landslide destroyed many parts of the district, the Muslim community in the district showed its humanitarian face. Most of the Muslim organisations actively took part in the rescue operations. A mosque in Pothukal allotted place to conduct postmortem of the bodies recovered from the Kavalappara landslide area at its prayer hall. The decision of the mosque authorities received much praise from the people across the world. Also, the state Waqf Board felicitated the mosque authorities for granting the prayer hall for conducting postmortem.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com