Eid for beginners

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Friday 10th September is the first day of Eid Al Fitr which marks the end of Ramadan the fasting month.

Eid begins on the sunset of the previous day at the first sighting of the new moon, so observing Muslims will celebrate Eid al-Fitr on the sunset of Thursday, the 9th of September.

The first Eid was celebrated in 624 CE by the Prophet Muhammad with his friends and relatives after the victory of the battle of Jang-e-Badar.

The Eid is celebrated on various levels. Religious, cultural and political.

On the crack of Eid day’s dawn, Muslim pray a special prayer called the Eid Prayer. Usually this is a communal prayer for both men and women at the mosque. I feel a strong wave of nostalgia remembering this. It is the most significant warm memory I vividly have from my childhood. I remember how my mother, God bless her soul, used to wake me up to listen to the prayer but never required me to upset my sleep and get up to pray knowing that am not a morning person.

After that, people would visit cemeteries, read Quran for the dead love ones, put flowers or greenery on the graves and offer sweets to other friends, family, poor, or any other visitors at the cemetery. Of course special money will be given to the caretaker of the cemetery.

Muslims are not only celebrating the end of fasting, but thanking Allah for the help and strength that He gave them throughout the previous month to help them practice self-control and for being blessed to share another Eid with the community.

Homes are cleaned profoundly and decorated, sweets are prepared, Arabic coffee is ready in the flasks, and people drop all off their hands to enjoy this time.

Culturally Eid means family gatherings, lots of sweets, gifts, new clothes especially for children from head pins to socks and shoes and the welcome Eidiyeh which is a money gift we give our children.

However, my late father-in-law used to give all of us Eidiyeh; the mothers and our kids. And that was his first formal appearance on the Eid day. All his 12 children with their spouses and some 60 grandchildren would gather in his house for the Eid feast lunch that was especially ordered from a particular caterer to suit the occasion. He would emerge from his study holding a reluctant smile, looking like a lion with his very blue eyes and carrying all these envelops with our names on it. He always put more for me and my daughters, we were his favourite. We miss you grandpa Khalifeh; God bless your soul.

When I was a child, we will go to cinema which is a special treat. Then go to the local swings that would put up by a local young strong guy. Very simply wooden swing. He would push us high, we would sing: the higher you push the more we pay, hahaha. The guy fancied my elder sister, no wonder she insisted to go to that particular swing, I was too naïve to get it.

All what excited me then was waking up early to put on my new clothes that I kept under my pillow…….. to eat the Eid sweets and receive the Eidiya to go and spend it on the swings….

Nowadays people don’t visit each other as much as before, thanks to the modern technology of E-cards, SMSs and FaceBook. Children don’t go to local wooden swings  because they don’t exist any more, we now belong to the 21st century globalisation…cool kids go to grand theme parks and overseas holidays. They ride big rides that expose more risk than the wooden swings but generate more money……

Taking the kids to the shops to buy their new clothes and toys is still practiced and it still fills their hearts with joy.

We don’t prepare Eid sweets one week before at home. We buy them from shops that experience prosperity during this season. Shops stay open till early morning and the economy revives. However, it is sad that prices for basic needs like food goes up during the month of Ramadan and Eid. Therefore, there are so many families can’t afford spending on basics let alone give eidiyeh or go theme parks.

Celebrations might vary from country to another, but the above is a common way of celebration. In India, Mendi (henna tattoos) is a big part of the Eid dressing up. The link below shows a step by step how to apply artistic patterns of mendi. (Clicking the image will take you to You Tube)

Politically, celebrating the Eid same day means that countries are in agreement of each other. Over the years, Arab countries expressed their political drifts by celebrating the Eids and Ramadan on different days. Usually, it will be one day discrepancy as they can’t express their disputes in more than one day since the new month is marked by the sighting of the new moon.

Eid is a national holiday of three days where companies send official cards, employees are given bonuses and the Armed Forces enjoy a big lump sum.

Head of states can’t justify being away from the country, and usually have open houses or palaces in this case, to receive government officials, civil servants and the public to wish them happy Eid, long life on earth and on the thrown even if they were hated and disapproved of as Eid is also a time of forgiveness, and making amends.

Join us in our celebrations

Suhad

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