Muslim in Beijing celebrate Eid

On Sunday, Muslims in China and across the world celebrated Corban Festival also known as Eid al-Adha.

The historic Niujie Mosque in Beijing saw a huge congregation of Muslims praying for China and global peace.

The magnificent Niujie Mosque is the oldest and the largest mosque in Beijing and also one of the most famous mosques in the world.

Originally built in 996 AD, the mosque was initiated by an Arabic scholar Nasurddin and was named as "Libaisi" by the Chinese Emperor in 1474 AD. The mosque has a central axel balanced layout covering 10,000 square meter area. The Muslims also offered prayers in more than 70 mosques in Beijing.

Soon after offering prayers, the worshippers went to food and sweet shops with their family members to mark the day of blessings.

Talking to China Daily website, Ibrahim Khalid from Egypt said the government of China attaches great importance to religious rituals of Muslims.

"Eid al-Adha festival is a great day here in China. Thousands of Muslims celebrated it with us in the vicinity of Niujie Mosque. This was a manifestation of how considerate China's government is toward religious minorities," he said.

The festival is celebrated by various ethnic groups of Muslim community in China, including the Hui, Uyghur, Kazakh, Uzbek, Tajik, Tatar, Khalkhas, Salar, Dongxiang and Bao'an. Many foreign Muslims living in different provinces of China also join the celebrations and offer prayers.

Bilal Sabri is a journalist of Pakistan Today and Diplomag.