Pacific Park: A Hub for Southern California’s Muslim Community

For Southern The golden state’s Arab American and Muslim households, Pacific Park has actually become an area where confidence is exercised freely, area connections are reinforced, and youngsters mature seeing their cultures celebrated under the open skies.

A Vibrant Community Hub

At Pacific Recreation Center & Park, the spirit of Eid, of togetherness, celebration, and belonging wasn’t included to one petition or one event. It was sewn into the lawn, the playground, and the outing tables. It was sewn into the area itself.

As the morning prayers paved the way to picnics and pick-up soccer games, there was a feeling that the actual celebration wasn’t just about Eid. It had to do with neighborhood resilience, about constructing a future where kids grow up seeing their traditions commemorated honestly.

“It’s amusing,” Khalil adds, gazing throughout the area at the sea of petition rugs and barbecue blankets, “When I was a youngster, we needed to squeeze into basements or tiny halls. Now, my youngsters are praying outside, in the sunlight, with everyone around them. That matters.”

The majority of weekends, you’ll discover picnic tables filled up with prolonged households. Papas kick football spheres with their sons or organize pickup video games on the verdant fields.

Growth and Visibility

Khalil and his household, Glendale homeowners for almost two decades, say the park’s transformation over the years mirrors the development and exposure of the Muslim area itself. As soon as scattered in small, leased prayer spaces around the city, gatherings like the one on March 30 now easily draw numerous families.

Public rooms where they can commemorate, collect, and raise youngsters noticeably Muslim and Arab without concern or discomfort are unusual and increasingly valuable. The presence of many Muslim family members at Pacific Park is not simply organic; it’s deeply willful.

Yet this isn’t simply one more holiday event. For Southern The golden state’s Arab American and Muslim families, Pacific Park has actually come to be far more: an area where belief is practiced openly, community connections are enhanced, and kids mature seeing their cultures commemorated under the open skies.

GLENDALE, Calif.– On an intense springtime morning in Glendale, Pacific Recreation Center & Park is buzzing with life and power as family members dressed in polished shoes and brilliant shades put out of their vehicles, ushering fired up youngsters towards the Community Center for early morning prayer. After the petition wraps up, the event proceeds outside. Petition rugs are spread across the lawn, boxes of days are unpacked, and introductions of “Eid Mubarak!” are traded with cozy hugs in between old pals and brand-new faces alike.

Zuheer, that currently lives in neighboring La Cañada Flintridge, states she expanded up rarely seeing public Muslim gatherings outside of mosques. Parks like Pacific have actually altered that dynamic.

“This is our go-to spot,” explains Sania Khan, 27, that concerned the park with her cousin Summer and a couple of friends after Eid petition. “We’ll pack some food, get a football ball, and remain right here all mid-day. It’s the only area nearby where we can just exist without stressing that’s considering us weirdly when we pray or when we show up in typical garments.”

“It’s the one time you see the whole neighborhood in one location,” explains Imaen Zuheer, 38, viewing her two sons chase each various other near the swings after Eid prayer. “You see Syrian family members, Palestinian families, Egyptian families, Desi families, completely. Various languages, different foods, but the same feeling.”

Organizers work with the city to safeguard authorizations for early-morning petition solutions, while regional family members lend a hand to assist set up, tidy up, and serve traditional treats later. The adjacent Community Center usually opens its doors for early morning petition and post-prayer tasks: arts-and-crafts for children, tiny fetes supplying sweets and gifts, and wellness facilities using blood pressure checks.

GLENDALE, Calif.– On an intense springtime early morning in Glendale, Pacific Area Center & Park is buzzing with life and energy as households dressed in refined shoes and bright colors put out of their cars, bring in excited kids toward the Community Center for morning petition. “You see Syrian households, Palestinian households, Egyptian family members, Desi families, all together. Most weekends, you’ll locate barbecue tables filled with extended families. Several families, like the Khans, see Pacific Park as a kind of 2nd home. Before the mid-day warm kicked in, family members began unboxing Tupperware containers: kabsa, kebabs, sambousek.

Several families, like the Khans, see Pacific Park as a type of 2nd home. “When I think of raising my youngsters eventually,” Sania said, watching a group of young boys sprint past her, “I envision bringing them here for Eid. I visualize them growing up knowing that public areas belong to them, also.”

A Second Home for Many

Prior to the mid-day warm began, family members started unloading Tupperware containers: kabsa, kebabs, sambousek. Somebody set up an audio speaker playing Fairuz. Youngsters lined up for face paint at a cubicle organized by a neighborhood Arab American youth team.

“After every little thing in the last twenty years– 9/11, the traveling prohibits, the monitoring– there’s something powerful concerning being able to spread out your rug in a public park and say, ‘I’m right here. We’re here,'” Zuheer solutions.

The relatives, both initially from Pasadena, said Pacific provides an unusual mix of ease of access and comfort. It’s main, family-friendly, and really feels welcoming, not sterile or extremely policed– a sadly typical experience for Muslim Americans in some public rooms.

Overcoming Challenges

“This is our Eid masjid currently,” explains Mohammad Khalil, 36, as he changes his son’s small kufi. “We hope right here, we consume right here, we see individuals we have not seen all year. It’s bigger than simply prayer– it has to do with feeling like we belong.”