On eve of Eid al-Adha, dressing to celebrate in Plainview

To prepare for one of Islam’s major holidays, crowds attended a shopping event Tuesday that transformed a drab event space at a Plainview Holiday Inn into a pop-up version of a global marketplace.

Among the items for sale, dazzling costume jewels, colorful party wear, and other imports from India, Pakistan and other countries.

The event, on the eve of Eid al-Adha, was set to continue late into Tuesday night. The Eid al-Adha celebration this year is expected to be held between Wednesday and Friday. The holiday coincides with parts of the Hajj. Held in Saudi Arabia, Hajj is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world. 

Tasnim Chowdhury, a Long Island resident who bought outfits for the holiday at the Plainview emporium, said she usually must travel to several places to buy some of the featured items. But with this event, she said, “Everything is under one roof.”

“It’s really easy to access all the different outfits,” she said, later adding: “There’s so much diversity.”

Each year, millions of Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice. The history of the holiday lies in a Quranic tale. 

The faithful believe that to show his devotion to God, the Prophet Ibrahim was set to sacrifice his son, Ishmael. But before the act was to take place, God offered a ram in the son's place. Similar stories are told in Christianity and Judaism, though Abraham is asked to sacrifice Isaac, another one of his sons.

Millions of Muslims worldwide will attend prayers at mosques to commemorate the holiday, many buying new clothes or gifts.

At the Long Island event Tuesday, a crowd of mostly women perused merchandise racks looking for both.

Farzana Rehman, an organizer of the event who lives in Huntington, said it allows people to get great prices while empowering women-owned businesses.

“Most vendors are women so I’m working for them, giving them an opportunity to do something and be independent,” she said.

Ritu Arora of Jersey City, New Jersey, and Saima Iqbal stood behind separate tables each lined with costume jewelry. Iqbal, of Holbrook, said she had items for sale from Turkey and Pakistan, among other locales.

“You have to have all different variety to get the customer’s attraction,” she said. “You cannot just keep one and that’s it.”

Another booth was filled with vegan-leather jutti shoes from India. Other vendors had racks featuring clothing such as abayas, robe-like outfits, and other items.

Many vendors said it was satisfying to have another place to promote their businesses and make items available for purchase — like clothing for Eid al-Adha — not readily available at many Long Island retailers.

Mehwish Rabbani was selling traditional Pakistani clothes on Tuesday, but she also does bridal wear at her Hicksville store.

She said the event was a much-appreciated opportunity after pandemic-fed inflation and slowdowns.

“Things are getting better," Rabbani said.

Neyha Ata, 19, just started her henna business, mostly to make some extra money. The Flushing, Queens resident started the business with her sister’s encouragement to put her artistic skills to work.

When asked what’s one of her favorite parts about the event, she said:

“I like how everyone from the community gets together.”

With AP

By Tiffany Cusaac-Smith

tiffany.cusaac-smith@newsday.com@T_Cusaac

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith is a general assignment reporter for Newsday. She previously worked at USA TODAY and is an alum of Howard University.