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Remembering Eid Celebrations

It’s a strange thing to describe Eid to people who are unfamiliar with it as I have found myself doing this and past years, as the holiday rolls around. Probably because it is a really diversely celebrated holiday, and might look pretty different as every family has its own yearly traditions. For me, some of the things I would look forward to every Eid are even too silly to be given such a weighty word as ‘tradition’. One of these was escaping the banalities of adult dinner party conversation, with my cousin by absconding to the balcony where we would dangle our legs over the edge and gravely discuss the boy bands of the time, or whatever other pressing matters demanded our attention. The general basis of Eid celebrations in Pakistan is probably the same as most other holidays — to visit with relatives you don’t see much of during the year, to put aside work and spend time with family (whether or not you really want to), to send gifts to neighbors, give charity to the less fortunate, and partake of a variety of rich foods reserved especially for Eid entertaining.

Cham Cham (in pink) and Khopra Pak (Green Coconut Squares). Photo by Shabbir Siraj.

A bit of background: Eid is considered the most important Islamic holiday. It’s celebrated to mark the end of Ramadaan, the lunar month of fasting in which the first verse of the Quran is said to have been revealed. In many countries where Eid is a national holiday, there are 3 days of holidays. There are two Eids — Eid-ul-Fitr is the eid described here, the other being Eid-ul-Azha which is called the greater eid. It seems odd to me that Eid-ul-Fitr is called the lesser eid, since I have always observed it to be anticipated with more excitement and celebrated with greater force than Eid-ul-Azha. I guess a fitting analogy would be the way Christmas is a bigger celebration than Easter. Like Eid-ul-Fitr, Christmas involves more planning, presents, food and entertaining than Easter does (to my knowledge at least — there may be some die-hard Easter planners out there and I wouldn’t want to offend them).

A shopping centre lit up for Eid-ul-Fitr (& more evidence for the Christmas analogy). Photo by Henrik.

The end of Ramadaan also means the end of fasting — this may also contribute to why Eid-ul-Fitr seems like a more joyous occasion. Whatever the reason, for Eid-ul-Fitr my mother would prepare a much more elaborate spread, and we would receive many more visitors and gifts from relatives, friends and neighbours. For Eid-ul-Fitr we also received more Eidi — envelopes of money that younger people receive from their elders as a gift. It was always fun to collect all the envelopes containing mysterious amounts and then count one’s loot at the end of the day. I remember there were a few years where I felt very fortunate that I suddenly had more pocket money than I knew what to do with.

Eid moon. Spotting the new moon at the end of Ramadaan means that Eid-ul-Fitr is the next day. Photo by Imran Dawood.

In the last few days of Ramadaan, people watch the sky for signs of the sliver of the new moon. Though the date of the new moon is predicted, there’s always room for a day (sometimes two) of error as lunar months vary in length. When the new moon is sighted, word spreads quickly and mosques everywhere blow a celebratory horn to announce “tomorrow is Eid”! The new moon is only in the sky for 5-10 minutes, which makes actually sighting it feel rather special. The image of the new moon is the symbol for Eid, as it heralds the beginning of the new lunar month, which must explain why the crescent is such a prominent image on Eid cards around the world.

On Chaand Raat (the night of the new moon) before Eid, many go out to celebrate and get their hands painted with henna. Photo by Onuva Chowdhry.

As soon as it’s confirmed that Eid is the next day, the celebrations begin. The night of the new moon is called Chaand Raat (literally, ‘moon night’). On chaand raat stores stay open late into the night as people throng the markets looking for henna, bangles, flowers, new clothes, sweets and ittar (perfume), as they prepare for three days full of visits from family and friends. Sweet shops are overflowing with customers getting boxes of treats wrapped up in shiny paper. The streets are filled with bright lights, crowds, makeshift hawkers, henna stands and general merriment. Preparations for Eid are usually happening at least a week in advance, as everyone knows that there’s a lot of visiting and entertaining to be done within 3 days, during which no shops will be open for business. As soon the horns announcing Eid are heard people rush to buy sweets and savouries to celebrate the news, wish their friends eid mubarak and send boxes of goodies to friends, neighbours and families in need.

Bangles to match your Eid outfit are a traditional accessory, and often bought on Chand Raat. Photo by Mohammad Ghouri.

It’s been a fair number of years that I was part of a a traditional eid celebration and I have to admit I do miss some of it. Although just like any holiday where it felt obligatory to do the rounds with one’s family, I did feel irritated sometimes by how all-consuming the eid routine felt when I just wanted to stay home and read a book instead of embarking on a day-long visiting marathon with relatives near and far. However now that I look back on it there was something comforting in the non-negotiable stability of Eid visits. On the first day of Eid, the same sequence of visitors would come wandering into our house all throughout the day. On the second day, my family and I would make our visits – the challenging part of this was accepting enough sherbet and snacks at each stop so as to not offend our hosts, and also allowing enough room for the next group of warm relatives to ply us with refreshments. (What a predicament, I know. Goodness knows how I made it out alive.) The third day of eid was kind of a wild card: no set routine, meeting relatives that got left out, catching up on housework from all the guests that had been by those days, and recovering from the food coma. Now that I’m looking back on it, there is a lot I didn’t fully appreciate about Eid: the neighborliness, almost overwhelming hospitality of extended family members, and time spent building relationships with cousins, are all things I can appreciate now.

Before my sudden craving for cham cham becomes dangerous (pink sweets pictured above), I’ll end my Eid reminiscing for now.  I wonder how Eid looks and feels in other parts of the world than Pakistan. Thoughts or stories anyone?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. The Wanderfull Traveler

    I haven’t heard of this celebration before. The colours remind me of a mixture of both Christmas and Easter along with an Italian mob wedding with the envelopes of money lol.
    Christmas usually ends with me being broke just in time for the New Year but I wouldn’t mind having some extra pocket money instead!

    Murissa

    Reply

    • Alyzee Lakhani

      Thanks Murissa! That’s an awesome comparison. I’d like to think of it as an Italian mob wedding. The pink and green you see in the photo with the sweets aren’t really Eid colours. There aren’t really any official Eid colours, but I completely see what you mean. Most traditional sweets are actually shades of white and brown as they are milk based. I guess I misled everyone there. But that photo was so tempting in its brightness that I had to use it. Thanks for reading!

      Reply

  3. Harsh

    Really its great to have view about eid by such a great writer as you are. I want to say one thing that you have written “eid ul fitr” which is wrong and the right word is “eid al fitr”.
    hope you don’t mind i am just trying to help your readers, but if I am wrong then please do make me right. 🙂

    Reply

  4. Harsh

    Hi we try to travel when we can. When we do we try to fit in to the culture and dress appropriately maybe not exactly like the locals. But so that we don’t stick out like a sore thumb. I think you get on a lot better like this.

    Reply

  6. bilal khan

    Eid mubarak , missing my firends for pakistan .always had a nice time them during ramadan
    and delicious cuisines . hope i will meet you all soon in future , wishing all of u a very happy eid

    Reply

  7. Sanchit

    Hey great post really u have explained grat feelings towards eid celebrations .eid plays aver major role in islamic community .great post just wanna say you eid mubarak

    Reply

  8. ashu

    I love the the feast of eid. And yes i am waiting for this eid too. By the way good write up my friend. Eid mubarak in advance.

    Reply

  9. Abdul Ghani

    This is one of the biggest Festival of Muslims which is celebrated everywhere in the worls.
    I personally do fast and celebrate the month of ramadan.Anyway thanks for sharing Nice article.
    Wish you an advance Eid Mubarak.

    Reply

  10. Ummu Kayla

    indeed a very impressive sight . Unlike the Idul fithri in my place . envy and want to feel it too .
    Hopefully I can get there someday and feel the beauty ied there .
    it is very tempting

    Reply

  13. Maher Afrasiab

    Great and informative article really like it. I remember the eid night which is known as chand raat. Enjoy a lot during the whole eid

    Reply

  14. Himanshu Katiyar

    Thats great stuff .. Ramadan is coming soon .. Ramadan mubarak in advance eid will be celebrated in a rocking manner 🙂

    Reply

  15. Earl Lee

    Very beautiful
    One thing I love about the web is I can get information on many different cultures around the world

    Reply

  19. Tesa Nugraha

    Eid years now is not like it used to because of the Eid now leaning more boast-megahan with new clothes and accessories while the first year,, Muslims more to make the Eid as happiness disetai with worship.

    Reply

    • Erica Hargreave

      She we are aware, which is why Alyzee felt the need to write about it. While she celebrates Eid here in Canada, there are aspects of Eid that she misses from Pakistan, where the celebration is bigger.

      Reply

  23. Farhan

    Eid is a precious gift for Muslim, Eid al Fitr and Eif al Adha. On Eid Muslim meet each other and sending sweats to their family and neighbors as well.

    Reply

  26. Mevan Ahmad

    Very nice written article on Eid UL Fitr. Specially helpful for the people who are not aware for this festival.
    Eid celebration in India is incredible. Specially in Delhi and Hyderabad.

    Thanks for sharing

    Reply

  28. John

    It brings us closer as a community and to God by offering more worship such as taraweyah prayers.After such an extensive training session a celebration is only logical.Thanks for an awesome post!

    Reply

  29. Ch Rashid

    Truly its extraordinary to have see about eid by such an awesome author as you seem to be. I need to state one thing that you have expressed “eid ul fitr” which isn’t right and the correct word is “eid al fitr”.

    trust you wouldn’t fret i am recently attempting to help your perusers, yet in the event that I am wrong at that point kindly do make me right

    Reply

  30. Usman

    Hey great post really u have explained grat feelings towards eid celebrations .eid plays aver major role in islamic community .great post just wanna say you eid mubarak

    Reply

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