Kishalaya

Wishing Eid Mubarak to all.

This Year ID-Ul-Fitr holiday is on October 1st.

Eid ul-Fitr or Id-Ul-Fitr, often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadaan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Eid is an Arabic word meaning “festivity”, while Fiṭr means “to break the fast” (and can also mean “nature”, from the word “fitrah”); and so the holiday symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period.

Eid ul-Fitr is a three day celebration and is sometimes called the “Smaller Eid” compared with the Eid ul-Adha that lasts four days and is called the “Greater Eid”.

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the fasting of Ramadaan. This has to do with the communal aspects of the fast, which expresses many of the basic values of the Muslim community. Fasting is believed by some scholars to extol fundamental distinctions, lauding the power of the spiritual realm, while acknowledging the subordination of the physical realm.

The Islamic tradition also associates events with the occasion. For example, on Eid al-Fitr, the angel Gabriel descended with white clothes for each of prophet Muhammad’s grandsons.

Courtesy : Wikipedia

Eid In India

After Turkey invaded India in around fourteenth century, the Islamic religion was introduced to Indians. Since then Islamic religion is an integral part of Indian culture. Around 16 percent of the population of India constitute of Muslims and thus, the effect is inevitable and profound as well. Thus, the festivals of Islamic people are of great importance in the country and are celebrated with equal fervor as that of Hindu festivals. Eid being the most awaited as well as religiously most significant festivals is a cause for festive mood all across the country.

Muslims are spread all across the country and thus, the celebrations are not confined to particular regions. Eid in India is considered as a National Holiday. The mosques are full of Muslims for Eid prayers.

Markets offer varied sweets and special delicacies to make Eid all the more exciting for people. The special Eid dish ‘Sewaiyaan’ comes in different forms and colors and are loved by people of all age.

Celebrations of Eid are more or less same all over the world. But it is also true that Eid is colored in country’s culture where it is being celebrated. Eid in India too has adapted to the culture and thus the mode of celebrations are unique. In India, Muslims donate money and other necessary items to the people in need.

Islam preaches brotherhood, love and peace and asks it’s followers to spread them all over. Eid helps greatly in this task. The festival unites everyone with one chord, the chord of happiness, which is experienced by all. Be it a Hindu or a Muslim, the festival brings for them an excuse to extend a hand of love and affection so that the bond gets strong with passing time.

Eid In Pakistan

In Pakistan, Eid-Ul-Fitr is called as ‘Meethi Eid’ (Sweet Eid) and Eid-Ul-Adha is called as ‘Bakra Eid’ (Sacrifice Eid). On both Eid, Sheer Khurma is a must to be the part of feasts at homes.

It is a special dish made by mixing dates and milk, which is cooked till one-fourth of the original quantity is left in an open pan. Sheer Khurma is served along with sweet wheat noodles. Shops too are full of various sweets. Many sweetshop owners sell their special dishes. Most of these sweets consist of goat meat mixed with Khoya and khurma.

Eid is not only a one day show in Pakistan. The festivities continue for around a month. The entire aura is filled with jubilations and every heart is drenched into it. Despite all these festivities, Muslims in Pakistan celebrate Eid in most simple way possible. They enjoy but do not overdo anything. Instead they donate money for charity purposes. After all, the lesson of Eid is to bring a smile on other people’s faces and destroy the evil inside.

The festive day commences with people getting ready with their new clothes on. Not only men, but young boys too wear the traditional dress which contains a long white traditional thoub and the head dress consists of a check patterned scarf fixed with the help of a black ring like turban, which is called Ogal. The bottom of the head dress is Tagiyah. In the same dress all of them perform their prayers in a mosque.