Fire-Displaced Pasadena Mosque Holds Eid Prayer at Church Across From New Temporary Home

Masjid Al-Taqwa, the first mosque in the Pasadena-Altadena area, will hold its Eid al-Fitr prayer Friday morning in the gymnasium of a church across the street from the temporary space it has rented since last summer—14 months after the Eaton Fire destroyed the congregation’s building in Altadena.

The board chose Pasadena Covenant Church for the holiday prayer because of its proximity to the masjid’s new temporary location, said Kameelah Wilkerson, a board member. The decision was “very intentional,” she said—an effort to use the energy of Ramadan to bring the congregation back together after members had to disperse.

Wilkerson said the board viewed this Ramadan as “a time for people to come home—a return to home because after the fires, so many people had to disperse because we no longer had a physical structure.”

The Eaton Fire began January 7, 2025, and destroyed more than 9,000 structures. The mosque’s building at 2183 Lake Ave. in Altadena was among them. Since last July, the congregation has rented space from Pasadena Covenant Church for weekly prayers.

Abdulhakim Al-Ezzi will lead the Eid prayer and deliver the khutbah at 8 a.m., Wilkerson said. Takbir—the chanting that precedes the prayer—begins at 7:30 a.m., according to a Masjid Al-Taqwa announcement. A second prayer may follow at 9 a.m.; the space, Wilkerson said, is “a smaller space than we’re used to.” Breakfast will follow.

At New Horizon School Pasadena, the fires have shaped the school’s Ramadan programming. The school’s annual Eid Toy Drive is directing donations this year to children from the Masjid Al-Taqwa community who were affected by the fires, said Maria Z. Khan, the school’s marketing and art director, in a written interview.

“This year, our toy drive is especially meaningful because the donations will support children from the community of Masjid Al-Taqwa who were impacted by the recent Altadena fires, helping ensure they can still experience the joy and celebration of Eid,” Khan said.

The school’s Ramadan Marketplace, held February 8, intentionally invited small businesses from the Pasadena and Altadena areas that were affected by the fires to participate as vendors, according to Khan. Students and alumni volunteered throughout the event, helping vendors and welcoming guests, and 8th graders ran a food stall as a fundraiser, Khan said.

The school’s annual Ramadan Campaign is partnering in 2026 with Humanitarian Day to extend its charitable impact beyond the campus, Khan said. According to the school’s Ramadan Giving Campaign page, originally published January 31, 2025, and updated in 2026, the New Horizon School Pasadena community donated $6,173 to Masjid Al-Taqwa during the 2025 campaign to support those affected by the fires.

One tradition the congregation has maintained through displacement is an Eid gift program for children that Board member Sister Delores Abdus-Shakoor has run for what Wilkerson estimated at over 20 years. During Ramadan, children write down three items they would like for Eid; the masjid provides one. They decorate their own gift bags from grocery bags with the help of Sister Jarina, whom Wilkerson called the masjid’s “artist in residence.”

Wilkerson said she has saved her son’s decorated gift bags every year since he was born. He turns 10 this year. She said she does not know where the bags are.

This year, the young adults were not able to create the annual mural that typically serves as a backdrop for Eid photos because of space limitations, Wilkerson said.

The evening before Eid, the masjid hosted members of Pasadena Covenant Church for an iftar—the meal that breaks the Ramadan fast—and filled the gym, Wilkerson said. Three college-age young adults from the masjid community designed, organized, and led the program.

“We’re really trying to support them stepping into leadership roles because they’re the ones that’s going to have to carry the … operation of the masjid forward,” Wilkerson said.

Asked about the community’s ongoing needs, Wilkerson said the need for donations was higher immediately after the fire and is now less urgent.

Wilkerson said people are still processing what happened. “I want to be clear that it’s not done for any of us, but there is less of a sense of urgency when it comes to financial items or even donation items immediately following the fire,” she said.

Zakat al-Fitr—a required charitable payment made before the Eid prayer at the close of Ramadan—goes to people in need by way of cash offerings or gift cards to grocery stores, Wilkerson said.

The board has not discussed rebuilding during Ramadan, Wilkerson said.

“It is our plan at the close of Ramadan and our next board meeting to focus on some very real steps towards rebuilding,” she said.

For Eid al-Adha—a second Eid in the Muslim faith, which Wilkerson said falls in six to eight weeks—the masjid hopes to invite the First AME Church in Pasadena, the Jewish Temple, and St. Mark’s community, she said. Those communities, Wilkerson said, “have really been impacted by the fire and supported us.”

The Fiqh Council of North America declared Friday, March 20, as Eid al-Fitr based on the astronomical new moon of March 19.

Masjid Al-Taqwa’s Eid prayer takes place Friday at Pasadena Covenant Church, 539 N. Lake Ave. in Pasadena. Takbir begins at 7:30 a.m.; the prayer begins at 8 a.m. New Horizon School Pasadena’s Eid Breakfast runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 651 N. Orange Grove Blvd. in Pasadena. Tickets are $50 for adults and $40 for children ages five to 10; day-of admission is $55 for adults and $45 for children, according to the school’s event listing.

“We wanted to capture that lightning in the bottle of Ramadan as a way to let people know that it was time and there was a place for them to come home,” Wilkerson said.