ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – In its Iraqi stronghold of Mosul, the Islamic State (ISIS) group is banning residents from performing prayers on one of the most important Muslim feasts, controversially claiming the practice does not belong in the religion. Ismat Rajab, a Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official for Mosul who now lives in the Kurdistan region, told Rudaw that the radical group has warned residents to avoid prayers for Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan in about a week. He said ISIS was claiming that the Eid prayer is not “originally an Islamic practice” and was not performed in Prophet Mohammad’s time. Since the ISIS takeover of Mosul last year, the jihadis have been imposing new rules and regulations, backed by strict punishments that include the threat of death for offenders. Eid al-Fitr, also called the Feast of Breaking the Fast, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. Although a religious practice, the prayer preformed on the first day after Ramadan also is a cultural event.
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