Srinagar: Jumat-ul-Vida, the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, was marked with religious fervor and devotion, with thousands of devotees offering congregational prayers at mosques and shrines across the Valley on Friday.
Special prayers were held across Kashmir as devotees thronged religious places to seek blessings and offer supplications, with mosques and shrines reverberating with Friday sermons on the occasion.
The largest congregation was witnessed at the revered Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, where a large number of worshippers, including men, women, and children, offered the congregational prayers, marking a significant, emotional “farewell” to the fasting month.
As per official estimates, nearly one lakh devotees offered congregational prayers at Dargah Hazratbal.
The shrine wore a festive look as devotees thronged the area in large numbers, while people could be seen engaging in purchasing before and after the Friday prayers, and shopkeepers in the vicinity reported brisk business during the day.
However, congregational prayers could not be held at the historic Jamia Masjid in the old city locality of Nowhatta.
The Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid alleged that authorities had imposed restrictions in the area and did not allow Kashmir s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to visit the mosque.
The Auqaf body further claimed that heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces had been put in place around the grand masque, preventing thousands of worshippers from offering the congregational prayers.
Meanwhile, large gatherings were witnessed at Jenab Sahab Soura, Asar-e-Sharif Shahri Kalashpora, Lal Bazaar, Khanqah-e-Maula, Ziarat Peer Dastgeer Sahab (RA) Khanyar and Sarai-Payeen, Ziyarat Syed Yaqoob Sahab (RA) Sonwar, Khawaja Naqshband Sahab (RA) Khwaja Bazar, and Ziarat Makhdoom Sahab (RA).
Special prayers were also held at mosques and shrines in north and south Kashmir, mainly at Jamia Masjid Reshi Sahab, Khiram Sirhama, Kaba Marg, Dooru, and Seer Hamdan.
Religious clerics delivered sermons highlighting the significance of the occasion, urging people to pray for peace and harmony. Reports said the day was also observed as Quds Day in several parts of Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.
Peaceful rallies and processions were taken out, particularly in Shia-majority areas, where people condemned the actions of the United States and Israel and expressed solidarity with the people of Iran.
Peaceful processions were reported from areas including Baghe-Zenab in Shalimar, Chattabal, Alamgari Bazar, and Bhagwanpora in Srinagar, while similar gatherings were also reported from parts of Budgam and other districts of north and south Kashmir.
Authorities had made elaborate security arrangements across Srinagar with police and paramilitary personnel deployed in strength at several sensitive locations to maintain law and order.
No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the Valley during the observance of the day, officials said.
Officials said elaborate arrangements had been put in place for devotees at the shrine. The Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board had made extensive arrangements for worshippers, while the Traffic Police, Srinagar, also ensured adequate transport and traffic facilities for devotees arriving from different parts of the Valley.
Large gatherings at ‘Alvida’ (farewell) prayers were reported from the district and town headquarters of the valley.
Although there is a possibility of having another Friday in this year’s fasting month, Mufti Nasir Ul Islam on Thursday said the Juma’atul Vida will be observed this week.
He said Eid ul-Fitr is likely to fall on March 20 (Friday) or March 21 (Saturday), depending on the appearance of the crescent moon. “After consulting other scholars, it was decided to observe Jummat Ul Vida on March 13,” he said.
Consequently, the Jammu and Kashmir government announced a public holiday on Friday. An order to this effect was issued by the general administration department on Thursday.
Meanwhile, people took out peaceful processions in some Shia-dominated areas, including Magam and Budgam, against the US-Israel strikes on Iran, officials said.
