For Danish Muslims, Eid Al-Fitr is a time to bring happiness to all patients at hospitals, wish them speedy recovery and present them with bouquets of flowers with a clear message: Muslims do care about all fellow citizens irrespective of their religions.

"On Eid days, many Muslims volunteer to visit patients in their hospital beds," Mohamed Fouad Al-Barazi, the head of the Muslim League in Denmark said.

"Our mission is to make them happy and bring a smile to their faces," he added.

Barazi said that the Muslim gesture helps change the blemished image of the Muslim faith in the European country.

"It leaves a good impression," he said, adding that good manners are the key to spread the true teachings of the Islamic faith.

"Many Danes voluntarily revert to Islam because it gives due attention to humanity unlike the awful image portrayed by some western media outlets," he said.

Eid Al-Fitr, which started Friday, October 12, in Denmark, is one of the two most important Islamic celebrations, together with Eid Al-Adha.

After Eid prayers, festivities and merriment start with visits to the homes of friends and relatives.

Traditionally, everyone wears new clothes for Eid, and the children look forward to gifts.

Barazi said Danish Muslims flock in droves since early morning to perform Eid prayers.

"Accompanied with their families and children, Muslims gather at the League's HQs to perform the prayers," he said.

"After the prayers, Muslims take their children to exchange warm Eid greetings with family members."

Charity

Danish Muslims also race to help Muslims worldwide during the Muslim festival.

"As almost all Danish Muslims are well-off, we channel Zakat Al-Fitrt (alms) to poor and disadvantaged Muslims in the Islamic world," said Barazi.

Zakat al-Fitr, the third pillar of Islam, is obligatory upon every (capable) Muslim.

Though it is preferable that zakat is given to the poor in the shape of wheat, rice and grains, some jurists also allow paying zakat in cash to the poor and needy.

The zakat should be given during Ramadan any time but before theEid prayer.

"We collect some $70,000 annually in alms and transfer them to poor families, widows and orphans in Muslim countries," said Barazi.

Last year, Danish Muslims donated $21,000 to help the poor in war-torn Iraq.

The Muslim leader, however, said the alms should be channeled through licensed charities in targeted countries.

"We ask every charity to prove it is recognized officially by the state to make sure that the money would not go awry," said Barazi.

Denmark is home to a Muslim minority of 200,000, making three percent of the country's 5.4 million population.

Islam is Denmark's second largest religion after the Lutheran Protestant Church, which is actively followed by four-fifths of the country's population.

Eid Joy in Italy

Italian Muslims, just like their peers worldwide, are used to observing Eid by performing the Eid prayers (20 minutes after sunrise) and then going to families and loved ones to exchange greetings, wearing their best.

"We flocked to mosques for prayers," Khalidi said. "We then gave gifts to our children and took them to the carousels," said Khalidi.

In Milan, nearly 20,000 of Muslims performed the Eid prayers in the grand mosque of the city.

"The sermon's theme was how to prepare the younger generations to cope with challenges ahead and strike a balance between their Islamic identity and western values," said Abu Shwaima.

Khalidi noted that Eid in Italy is virtually an amalgam of traditions from North African countries and the Middle East,"

He said that the North African breeze is blowing across Rome and southern Italy during Eid.

"This is because the majority of Muslims in Rome and other Italian cities in the south are coming from North Africa," he said.

"On the other hand, Eid celebrations in the northern city of Milan are carrying an eastern touch," he added.

Khalidi said his center will throw a party on Sunday, October 14, for children.

"We will offer them presents and candies," he said.

Italian Muslims Unnerved in Eid

Italian Muslims are celebrating Eid Al-Fitr this year amid a ferocious campaign by right-wing politicians and media, which anew made to much fuss about the niqab issue to cast a pall on the Muslim merrymaking. "We have got used to such campaigns. We are celebrating Eid irrespective of this furor," Ali Abu Shwaima, the head of the Islamic center in Milan, told IslamOnline.

He was referring to a right-wing campaign against a decision by Vittorio Capocell, the mayor of Reviso district in northern Italy, to allow Muslim women to wear niqab (face-veil) in public places.

Italian politicians has slammed the decision as a violation of Italian law banning face-cover in public.

"This furor aims to distract Muslims and spoil their joy in Eid," which started Friday, October 12, in Italy, said Abu Shwaima.

Samir Al-Khalidi, imam of Al-Huda Islamic center in Rome, echoed a similar stance.

"We don't pay heed to such debates...It's Eid and we have to celebrate and take into our strides such trivialities," he said.

He said niqab is not a burning issue for Italian Muslims.

Abu Shwaima agreed.

"There are only ten Muslim women wearing niqab in Milan, for instance," he said.

Khalidi said that Italian Muslims are paying more attention to other important issues.

"Muslims are focusing on issues such as mosque construction, political representation, integration and Islamophobia," he said.

Italy has a Muslim population of some 1.2 million, including 20,000 reverts, according to unofficial estimates.