Eid & "eidiquettes"

Although Eid was on Monday, I thought it was necessary to make a post based on Eid. For those who may not know, Eid- ul fitr is the first day of the next Islamic month after Ramadan, and so marks the end of the month of fasting. It's a day of celebration and often described as a festival.

The Prophet SAW said:

 "Every people have a festival and this[ referring to Eid ] is our festival"

This explains the celebratory nature of the day, and so many people set off to celebrate their eid.

But what does a Muslim typically do on Eid?

There are many things to do to celebrate Eid, as long as their within Islamic bounds there is much choice. However there are certain customs followed on Eid day to stick to the Sunnah (teachings and ways) of the Prophet SAW. 

• It is recommended that one does ghusl (a whole body ritual bath)
• One would wear the best of their clothes as  

 This is related by ash-Shaf'i and al-Baghawi. Al-Hassan as-Sibt says: "The Messenger of Allah ordered us to wear the best clothes we could find for the two Eids and to apply the best perfume we could find and to sacrifice the best animal we could find (on Eid ul Adha [the other eid] )." *1*2

• Before leaving  for the Eid prayer, one should eat something; the sunnah specifically mentions dates.

"The Prophet would not go out on the Eid ul Fitr until he had eaten an odd number of dates." This is related by Ahmad and al-Bukhari.

• Praying the Eid prayer.It is recommended that every Mulsim makes an eid prayer somewhere, at sometime so that they can "witness the good and the supplications of the believers" and feel that sense of community that is at its highest throughout the  whole year.  The sunnah is to pray in an open space, rather than in the mosque when performing the eid prayer. This year, the local mosque finally got the council's permission to and so we were able to. Otherwise, the community would pray in the mosque. Additionally, this prayer is different to the other five obligatory daily prayers; for example the call to prayer wouldn't be made. *3

• Another sunnah is taking two different routes, to and from where you prayed the Eid prayer. Abu Hurairah says: "When the Prophet went to salatul Eid, he would return through a different route." This is related by Ahmad, Muslim, and at-Tirmidhi.

After the Eid prayer is when you're free to do whatever it is that comes under your interoetation of 'celebrate'. Its good to call your family who may be distant, and give gifts to family and friends to strengthen relations, also eating is a good thing:

Ahmad and Muslim record from Nubaishah that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The days of tashriq (i.e., the days in which the Eid is celebrated) are days of eating and drinking and of remembering Allah, the Exalted."

I spent my Eid at my local mosque's 'Eid the park'. This is a term normally used to describe a fun fair set up for Eid day, especially for the children to optimise the fun element of the day. I'm not really a theme park person, but I still enjoyed myself. It was really nice seeing my younger sisters and friends having fun on rides, moreover seeing the whole community having fun together.

(The weather wasn't helpful but that's expected of London and the UK.)

For my Muslim brothers and sisters out there, I pray that Allah accepts our fasts of Ramadan, and Eid Mubarak!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Side-notes
 *1 

Just if this whole format was unclear, this is how a typical Hadith- a saying of the Prophet -  would be laid out. In pink you have the companion that narrated the Hadith initially, who scholars would trace the Hadith back to. In blue the actual words of the Prophet SAW from which the teaching is derived. In yellow the last people who categorise the hadiths and determine validity and other technical stuff. I literally copied and pasted the hadiths so some may not have the beginning or the end.

*2 I have a love-hate relationship with clothes, but Eid day should be a love day. I loved what my mother hurriedly made me for Eid. Traditional lace peplum blouse, with a skirt. On a love day I tend to want to take photos. I definetly took photos:

Were these natural shots? Half-so, but I know I'm such a poser for a camera at times so maybe not...lol

selfies : 

The last one (this one) is that popular pose, had to do it!

*3 Eid day is a day to be punctual. If you're not punctual normally be so on Eid day especially if you have to catch an early prayer before going to work. Many prayers are done my one mosque community just so you have choice- once an hour from 7 to maybe 11, but this year only two occurred because we assumed everyone would make the 10 o'clock in the field. Wrong! People were strolling in 20 minutes late,delaying the prayer because the imam pitied them,  and thus getting us soaked in the early morning showers. I was slightly annoyed, but in retrospect it was quite funny, no one got hurt, and it was a loving thing to do. Despite unpunctuality being bad, the whole thing manifested that sense of community  that is so imminent on Eid. Lovely.