site.btaBulgarian Muslims Celebrate Ramazan Bayram

Bulgaria’s Muslims are celebrating Ramazan Bayram, the feast at the end of the holy month of Ramazan. Muslims make up 10.8% of the Bulgarian population, according to the 2021 census. That totals 638,708 people.

The largest Muslim communities live in southern and northeastern Bulgaria.

The President, Parliament leader and the caretaker Prime Minister extended their greetings to Muslims in Bulgaria. 

In his address, the President expressed hope that “the quest for spiritual elevation, humility and forgiveness will find new strength on the path of humanity and the preservation of morality”, said the President’s Press Secretariat said. The Head of State wished health, understanding and prosperity to the representatives of the Muslim faith in Bulgaria.

National Assembly Chair Rosen Zhelyakov greeted Muslims on Ramazan Bayram at the opening of Wednesday's plenary sitting. He wished them much happiness, prosperity and "let all of us be an example of tolerance". "Peace, love, and prosperity," he added.

In a Facebook post, caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev offered his “warmest greetings to all Muslims on the occasion of Ramazan Bayram, wishing them health, happiness and prosperity". " Bayram brings people together regardless of religious or ethnic differences. The times we live in require us to be more united and more generous, to respond to the call of everyone who needs help and to be sympathetic to everyone's problems. Respect for the elderly and especially respect for parents is the most important spiritual work that no one should forget. Prayer for those suffering in the world and for preserving our homeland from disasters is everyone's duty in these days. This is the least that everyone can and must do," Glavchev wrote. He stressed that Bayram is a time for reflection. “Thus, everyone should try to look at himself and see what he has achieved and what he has missed. Let's congratulate ourselves, make the people around us happy and smile!“

The Ramazan Bayram feast lasts for three days here. Tradition in the Bulgarian Muslim community requires that people visit their parents and older relatives to celebrate together, to show them their respect and ask for forgiveness.

In Haskovo, southern Bulgaria, the town’s two mosques, Eski Camii and Carsi Camii, couldn’t accommodate all the people wanting to attend prayer service and many performed the Bayram ritual in the open space outside the mosques. 

By tradition, local Christian and Muslim clerics came together over coffee to celebrate Bayram.

In the northern town of Targovishte, tens of Muslims attended the morning prayer in the Sahat Camii mosque. Outside the mosque was a chest for donations with a sign reading “Donate if you can, take if you are in need”.