Muslims celebrate Eid al Fitr holiday

HOBOKEN, N.J., Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Muslims in the United States and abroad said they celebrated the Muslim holiday of Eid al Fitr, which marks the end of a month of fasting, on Sunday.

Sajjad Aziz of Hoboken, N.J., told CNN that Eid al Fitr represents a three-day celebration of the end of Ramadan, a traditional Muslim month of fasting, that includes elaborate feasts, charitable acts and family gatherings.

"Think Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's -- all rolled into one. It's that huge for us," said Aziz, a Muslim.

While the Muslim celebratory holiday was celebrated on Sunday in the United States and most other countries, residents in certain countries will have to wait until Monday to sight the crescent of a new moon and begin festivities.

"It only needs one sighting of the moon in the whole country, and the whole nation erupts in cheers," Qazi Arif, of Sirajgong, Bangladesh, said of the official start to Eid al Fitr. "It's a divine feeling, hard to describe."

"If you have family close by, then you can kind of capture the mood that you remember from back home," St. Louis resident Abdallah Gamal, who was born in Egypt, told CNN. "But it's not the same."