Scenes from Eid al-Fitr at one of Bed-Stuy’s oldest mosques

Masjid at-Taqwa played host to the local faithful on Fulton Street as Ramadan came to a close Friday

It is Friday and the streets around the Masjid at-Taqwa in Bedford-Stuyvesant have come to life for the Eid al-Fitr prayers, the official end to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The block is awash in color — an emerald robe, a bright blue tunik, dresses adorned with gold embroidery — as women and men march in from the four directions heeding a call to prayer emanating from a loudspeaker from the mosque.

Call to prayer (Photo by Stephanie Keith)

People from Africa and Bangladesh, many new immigrants, find their spot on the large outdoor tarp shoulder to shoulder with the predominantly African-American base who were the initial founders of the mosque in 1981.

“Back then no one wanted to come to Bed-Stuy. This whole block was filled with crackheads during the crack epidemic,” says Saana Malik, 54, whose father Farid Malik was a co-founder of the mosque. “But they cleaned it up and now even some of the guys who used to smoke crack converted and still go to this mosque. The Masjid at-Taqwa provided a blueprint to all the other mosques in Brooklyn and started attracting Muslims to the area. Now people from all over the world come to our mosque and we welcome them.”

Photo by Stephanie Keith

Among them is Bilan Farah, 26, a first-generation American born to Somali immigrants. “I love coming to the Masjid at-Taqwa because of the incredible diversity of cultures,” says

Photo by Stephanie Keith

On this day, the Masjid at-Taqwa, whose name translates as “mosque of God-consciousness,” is hosting a vibrant Eid prayer that fills the street along Fulton Street from Bedford to Franklin Avenue.

Baqui Hammond greets friends after participating in Eid al-Fitr prayer (Photo by Stephanie Keith)

Baqui Hammond, 40, a local Bed-Stuy resident, is out front, greeting friends and faithful with a hug. He was, he says. born a Christian but converted to Islam after becoming acquainted with the mosque. To him, the Eid represents “celebration and happiness — having a good time and remembering the good deeds during Ramadan.”