Seattle Celebrates Eid Milan
By M. Owais Jafrey
Pakistan Association of Greater Seattle hosted an Eid ul Adha dinner on Saturday, December 13, 7:30 PM at the Redmond Senior Center.
The pre-winter snowfall didn’t deter the enthusiasm of families drawn from Seattle and many adjoining towns. The banquet hall was full to its capacity with 300+ attendees as they were warmly welcomed at the entrance by Mr. Munir Rizvi.
The program began with a recitation from the Holy Qur’an followed by Mr. Rizwan Nasr’s Hamd-e-Ba’ri Ta’Aala and Naat-e-Rasul (SAW) by Rifaat Khan. The melodic rendering and the poetic quality of Hamd-o-Naat appealed to the emotions of the audience.
Mr. Asad Faizi added the patriotic dimension in his welcome remarks declaring that we annually commemorate the sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS), and sacrifice is an integral part of our Faith. It was through the sacrifices of millions that the dream of a separate homeland for Muslims of the subcontinent was materialized. No sacrifice is too great to strengthen the unity in our ranks for Pakistan’s sovereignty, integrity, might and power to make it an ideal Islamic state, he emphasized.
As in the past, the impregnable unity of Pakistani nation will always withstand any test and challenge posed by any self–conceited mischief monger. The chorus that Pakistan is exporting terrorists abroad is misconceived as the country is itself the victim of terrorism, added Mr. Faizi.
Slogans of Allah-u-Akbar and Pakistan Zindabad reverberated across the auditorium as he spoke. His remarks were followed by an entertaining program including many interesting items like a quiz consisting questions from national history, literature, sports, and finally a bingo game.
The most engaging program, which thrilled the audience, involved couples of all ages as they sportingly volunteered to compete. Husbands were isolated and wives were asked questions about their dates of birth and wedding anniversary, their favorite food, color, TV show, actor and actress, etc., and also the most annoying person among their in-laws.
Later the husbands were called in and were put to test. Mr. Kamran Salahuddin tallied their answers with those of their wives. None of the husbands could give all the right answers. The newlyweds performed better than their seniors.
Valuable gifts were given to the winners and the losers also got some consolation prizes. The dinner was superb as it included a great variety of palatable national dishes followed by cakes, sweets and tea/coffee. There was a big applause in appreciation for the Association, which has been arranging such get-togethers year after year.
Messrs Asif Nasr, Mumtaz Qureshi and others responsible for the success of the program were congratulated. The downpour of increasing snow flurries bid adieu to the evening’s merry makers as the program concluded at almost midnight.
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