On Eid ...

It is that time of the fasting month.  People are now starting to consider Eid, the festival that signifies the end of fasting.  Like all religious festivals, Eid is a family day. It is a tradition, from the time of the Prophet (P.B.U.H), to wear your best clothes and many will spend hours in the shopping malls.  Family will be visited and hatchets will be buried, albeit for a day, as a sign of respect. 

I can remember, in the days of my youth.  Waking up before sunrise, and going to mosque for the early morning prayer.  Coming home to the smells of roast in the oven as my mum was preparing for the mid morning meal.  A cup of warm milk-which has been boiled with sago, almonds and sugar-and something sweet for the mouth.  A little something to symbolise that we are not fasting.

Then off to the Eid prayer.  It is traditionally held in an open field, everyone brings their prayer mats and lays them out in rows.  All dressed to their best, in traditional Islamic wear or other, doused in sweet smelling perfume.  The Imam, leader, begins with a sermon in English, which is followed by the prayer and a sermon in Arabic.  At the end of the prayer we turn to those next to us and greet them as a sign of brotherhood and in celebration of the month that has passed.

Then it is off to the cemetery to visit those who were close to us in life and to say a little prayer for them.  This allows us to remember them, to face the inevitability of life and to confront our own mortality. To reflect upon life and to consider that we should be ready at all times to continue the journey beyond life should the train stop at our station.

Than it is off home, to greet mum and to have the first meal of the day.  Roast chicken, savouries and countless sweets to celebrate.  Family friends dropping by, staying for a small bite to eat, everyone in a festive mood.  Then its off to visit the family, uncles aunts and all the cousins.  A time of family reunion and gratitude that the Almighty has seen fit to bless us.

How I long for these days, when the hustle  and bustle was less important, when  your character and what you were was more important than the status of material wealth.  As for me I am working at it  ;-)             

       

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