Eid - An Overview
Every year there are two Eids : Eid - ul - Fitr and Eid - ul - Zuha. Of the two, Eid - ul - Fitr is the more popular. The Muslim religious calendar is based on lunar months. The ninth lunar month is known as Ramzan.
During this month Muslims
fast from sunrise to sunset and during these hours they are forbidden
to eat, drink or indulge in any form of pleasure. So strict are the
injunctions against eating and drinking that even the taking of
medicine or water is forbidden, as also smoking cigarettes,
bidis or hookahs. During Ramzan, Muslims are required to make
a special effort to settle their differences and refrain from
quarrelling, talking ill of others, and from lying, cheating, or using
bad language. Any breach of these is regarded as violating the spirit
of Ramazari and deprives the defaulter of any merit he might
have earned. If someone deliberately eats or drinks anything - even
tastes a morsel of food - the fast is considered as having been broken
and the person is expected to make up for the lapse by fasting after
Ramzan is over.
The
entire month of Ramzan is celebrated as one long festival :
it could be described as the Month of Festivity. Muslims look forward
to it for, at the end of it, there is Eid - ul - Fitr.
As soon as the new moon of Ramzan is sighted, people start
making preparations for Eid. During this month young and old recite the
special prayer, taravih in addition to the night prayer isha.
Those who know the Koran by heart recite it, completing the recitation
within the month....
Eid Dates
| Year | Id al-Adha |
| 1417 H | 1997-PR-17 |
| 1418 | 1998-PR-07 |
| 1419 | 1999-MAR-28 |
| 1420 | 2000-MAR-16 |
| 1421 | 2001-MAR-05 |
| 1422 | 2002-FEB-22 |
| 1423 | 2003-FEB-11 |
| 1424 | 2004-FEB-01 |
| 1425 | 2005-JAN-21 |
| 1426 | 2006-JAN-10 |
| 1427 | 2006-DEC-31 |
| 1428 | 2007-DEC-20 |
| 1429 | 2008-DEC-08 |
| 1430 | 2009-NOV-28 |
| 1431 | 2010-NOV-17 |
| 1432 | 2011-NOV-07 |
....For the early morning meal, known as sehri, generally eatables cooked in milk are preferred and tea or water drunk. No sooner is the sehri over than the call to prayer is heard from the minarets of mosques. The period of fasting begins and nothing is to be eaten till the sunset. On hearing the call to prayer men and male children set off for the nearest mosque. The women stay at home. They wash their faces, hands and feet and line up for prayer. After tarrying a while to listen to recitations from the holy Koran, they go about their daily chores.
And now everyone is ready for the day. The women get busy with
housework, bureaucrats set off for their offices, workers for their
factories, tradesmen for their stores. Thus the fasting during
Ramzan in nom way affects the usual routine of duty. On the
contrary, people work with greater zest.
As the sun sets, the call
for the
maghreb prayers issues from the minarets. This is a signal
for Muslims to break their fast and is known as the iftar. It is
customary to break the fast with a sip of water, a few dates or some
other fruit. Some women chew a piece of rock salt. There after they may
eat or drink anything not forbidden by Islamic law.
A great deal of trouble is taken over preparing the iftari.
Special delicacies - sauces made of tamarind, fried corn flour, boiled
grams and lentils, meat kababs and sweetmeats - are great favourites.
If the month of Ramzan falls when the weather is hot a
variety of sherbets are prepared.
After the iftari, the evening prayer, the maghreb
is said. Then it is time for dinner and after that for the night prayer
(isha). This prayer is accompanied by the taravih prayer. And
so to bed. Thus pass the twenty-nine or thirty days of Ramzan. If the
new moon appears after twenty-nine days there is another day of fasting
to make it exactly thirty days. The sighting of the new moon bringing
the glad tiding of Eid - ul Fitr and the end of the month of Ramzan.
'Eid - ul - Fitr' means the joy at the end of the days of fasting.
The day following the appearance of the new moon is celebrated with
great enthusiasm. All Muslims put on their best clothes and assemble in
mosques, Eidgahs or in some open space and line up for
prayer. The Eid prayer is recited between the early morning and noon
prayers. As soon as the prayer is over, people embrace and wish each
other "Eid Mubarak".
Eid - ul - Fitr is a great favourite with children. On hearing
that the new moon has been sighted they immediately begin laying out
the clothes they will wear the next morning. Boys look for their new
socks; girls for their hairpins. Boys select the caps they will wear
for the Eid prayers; little girls plead with their elder sisters to
have their dupattas dyed to match their new clothes. Every
Muslim home is alive with excitement.
On the night of the new moon most Muslim shops remain open till the
early hours of the morning so that people can buy all they need and are
able to celebrate Eid befittingly. No matter how late they went to bed,
everyone is up early. And the children are up even earlier than their
elders ! Before the grown - ups have had time to bathe and change, the
children are ready and impatiently waiting to accompany the men to the
mosque or the Eidgah.
They
are particularly thrilled because, before leaving they are given some
money known as eidee, which is more than their usual pocket money. On
the way back home they blow up the eidee money on toys,
balloons and sweets. Then they go to meet their grandparents, uncles
and aunts who give them more eidee and sweetmeats. There are
special delicacies prepared for Eid. Vermicelli pudding is the great
favourite. There is also sheer khorma cooked in milk with
raisins and nuts. Besides these, there are several varieties of savoury
dishes. In most areas, people of other faiths join Muslims in
celebrating Eid.
How is Eid al-Fitr celebrated?
During the month of Ramadan,
Muslims observe a strict fast and participate in pious activities such
as charitable giving and peace-making. It is a time of intense
spiritual renewal for those who observe it. 
At the end of Ramadan,
Muslims throughout the world observe a joyous three-day celebration
called Eid al-Fitr (the Festival of Fast-Breaking).
A. Eid al-Fitr falls on the first day of Shawwal, the month which
follows Ramadan in the Islamic calendar. It is a time to give in
charity to those in need, and celebrate with family and friends the
completion of a month of blessings and joy.
Before the day of Eid, during the last few days of Ramadan, each Muslim
family gives a determined amount as a donation to the poor. This
donation is of actual food -- rice, barley, dates, rice, etc. -- to
ensure that the needy can have a holiday meal and participate in the
celebration. This donation is known as sadaqah al-fitr (charity of
fast-breaking).
On the day of Eid, Muslims
gather early in the morning in outdoor locations or mosques to perform
the Eid prayer. This consists of a sermon followed by a short
congregational prayer.
After the Eid prayer, Muslims
usually scatter to visit various family and friends, give gifts
(especially to children), and make phone calls to distant relatives to
give well-wishes for the holiday.
These activities traditionally continue for three days. In most Muslim
countries, the entire 3-day period is an official government/school
holiday.
As on Eid - ul - Fitr, on Eid
- ul - Zuha also additional recitations are added to the morning prayer
and people embrace each other in offering felicitations. Then they
offer whatever animal they can afford by way of sacrifice. The flesh of
the sacrificed animal is given to the poor and needy. Eid - ul - Zuha
is , therefore, also known as Eid - ul - Kurban (the Eid of sacrifice).
On this Eid also children are given eidee, but they are not nearly as
excited over this Eid as they are over Eid - ul - Fitr.
There is yet another Eid known as Eid - Miladun - Nabi which
commemorates the birthday of the holy Prophet Mohammed.
Eid - ul - Zuha falls about two months and nine days after Eid - ul - Fitr. On this occasion Muslims who can, go on pilgrimage to Mecca. This pilgrimage is known as Haj. On Eid - ul - Zuha Muslims offer goats or sheep in sacrifice to God. This commemorates the attempted sacrifice by the Prophet Abraham of his son Ishmael, which was commanded by God to test the faith of Abraham. But when Abraham was about to kill his own son, God performed a miracle and substituted a ram in place of Ishmael. Eid - ul - Zuha celebrates this great act of sacrifice.
What does Eid al-Adha commemorate?
During the Hajj, Muslims remember and commemorate the trials and triumphs of the Prophet Abraham. The Qur'an describes Abraham as follows:
"Surely Abraham was an
example, obedient to Allah, by nature upright, and he was not of the
polytheists. He was grateful for Our bounties. We chose him and guided
him unto a right path. We gave him good in this world, and in the next
he will most surely be among the righteous." (Qur'an 16:120-121)
One of Abraham's main trials was to face the command of Allah to kill his only son. Upon hearing this command, he prepared to submit to Allah's will. When he was all prepared to do it, Allah revealed to him that his "sacrifice" had already been fulfilled. He had shown that his love for his Lord superceded all others, that he would lay down his own life or the lives of those dear to him in order to submit to God.
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