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Muslims perform `Eid prayers in Granada. |
MADRID — `Eid Al-Fitr, celebrated here on Monday, October 23, is a bit different this year for Spanish Muslims after two years of police arrests, vile media campaigns and suspicious looks from fellow Spaniards.
The government seems ready to turn a new leaf in its relations with the Muslim minority, deciding to allocate cash for the main representative Muslim body on par with Christians and Jews.
The decision, put on ice since 1992, is expected to enter into force in 2008, according to ABC newspaper.
Though is it not clear how much the government would set aside for Muslims, the move is a significant goodwill gesture towards much stereotyped Islam, the second religion in Spain after Catholic Christianity.
Spain has a Muslim minority of about 800,000 people out of a total population of 40 million.
The southern European country has recognized Islam through the law of religious freedom, issued in July 1967.
After Al-Qaeda claimed the terrorist Madrid bombings in 2002 that killed 190 people, Muslims, Islamic centers and mosques were the target of mounting attacks and calls from rightist parties to clamp down on the Muslim minority.
Media Attention
Unlike in the past few years, Spanish media objectively covered Muslim activities during the last days of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
They stopped using the hoary old clichés about Islam and Muslims during Ramadan and `Eid.
Reporters and editors left their desks and interviewed Muslims in areas with dense Muslim population to convey untwisted facts about Muslims to fellow countrymen.
Some TV channels have also aired short documentaries on preparation for `Eid Al-Fitr, one of the two most important Islamic celebrations, together with `Eid Al-Adha.
Euskal Telebista sent cameramen and reporters to the Moroccan capital Rabat to produce a documentary to be aired on the `Eid's eve.
Abstaining from food, drinks and sex from dawn to dusk during Ramadan encouraged curious Spaniards to learn more about the Muslim faith.
Some newspapers like the La Ley attributed the curiosity to the growing number of Muslim reverts in Spain.
"You can hardly meet a Spaniard who has not met a Muslim and learnt about his/her traditions and rituals," the paper said in a recent reportage.
Common grounds between Muslims and non-Muslims in Spain were also highlighted in a play performed during Ramadan.
The "Sea and Heaven" narrates the history of Al-Andalus (now Spain) against a backdrop of a love affair between a Muslim sailor and a Spanish girl.
In a gesture of goodwill, many municipalities and cities cancelled this year extremist celebrations that mark the mass exodus of Muslims from Andalusia five centuries ago.
The orgies include the burning of effigies of what extremists say Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
Despite all the positive developments, Spanish Muslims were unable to secure an official holiday to celebrate` Eid Al-Fitr
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