Eid in Arabic means a feast, festival, or holiday. Eid-Ul-Fitr means “festival to break the fast” to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadhan. Declaration of Eid depends on the moon as sighted by the lunar calendar.

Firstly, to reflect on the days before Eid, the Ramadhan days. Ramadhan is the holy month when the Quran was sent by Allah to show the right path to the believers. The believers fast from dawn to dusk this month, in addition to other additional forms of worship. So, this is the month in which a believer surrenders himself or herself in the love of Allah. The Devil (Shaytaan) is imprisoned and the doors of paradise (Jannah) are opened.

Now coming towards our topic “Eid”, that is, the end of Ramadhan. Eid is a day of joy, happiness and togetherness. This is akin to the day of results after a month-long test and a blessing and celebration. This is the result day – a symbol that you passed and you can celebrate it with joy
The day begins by having a bath, wearing new clothes or the best and clean ones from the wardrobe, then applying fragrance (attar) to one’s clothes, going for salah, and greeting each other. Eid is not only in homes but also in the streets and can be felt in the smell of the sheer khurma coming out of every house and the special dishes prepared like biryani, chicken qorma, mutton curry and many more. Not only relatives but also neighbours go to each other’s houses to greet.

The best part of Eid is taking and giving ‘Eidi’. This is very special for children. I remember my childhood Eidi in the joint family. At that time we used to get very little Eidi because we are nearly 23/24 cousins. After getting ‘Eidi’ we used to go for a camel ride. The beautiful part was when we all collected some small amount of money from all of us to have a party for the next day, which we called ‘Baasi Eid’. Eid day starts with happiness and ends with happiness.

Now as we discussed Ramadhan and Eid, one thing clicked in my mind that I would like to share. If in return for this fasting and 30 days of Ibaadat, Allah gives us a day of Eid that is fully meant for joy, then if we give our whole lives to Allah and perform good deeds there is no doubt that The Day of Judgment will be far more marvelous than Eid in this world.