Hello, Asalamualykum and Eid Mubarak to all our friends and followers at the Cadbury centre.
My name is Maryyum Mehmood and I am here to deliver our Eid al Fitr greeting.
So, firstly, by the grace of the Almighty, we are here at the finish line.
Alhamdulilah, we have finished all the fasts if the glorious month of Ramadan.
I pray that all of our fasts are accepted alongside all of our good deed.
What is Eid?
What do Muslims do at Eid?
How do we celebrate, and most importantly, what will we be doing differently given the
nature of our current reality of Covid.
So, after a whole month of fasting, Muslims across the world come together and rejoice
in the festival of Eid al Fitr, which lasts three days.the first day of Eid al Fitr is
also the first day of the month of Shawwal.
Eid al-Fitr begins at sunset on the night of the first sighting of the crescent moon.
Now, Muslims across the world will be aware of the are aware of the notorious ‘moon
wars’ that we have.
This is because not every Muslims celebrates Eid, or begins their celebration of Eid on
the same day at the same time, and that’s absolutely fine.
It is entirely dependent on the religious authority that you choose to follow.
Given that there are three days in this Eid, it is likely that at least one day there will
be some overlap whereby all Muslims across the world will be celebrating Eid at the same
time.
Now, so what do Muslims do at Eid?
Well, following the prophetic traditions of Prophet Peace be upon Him, Muhammad (saw),
we start the day by ritual purity,.
So we ensure that we’ve bathed and we are dressed in our Eid finest.
So what we do then is Muslims will engage in Takbeerat, which is essentially the rememberance
of God.
Glorifying God’s names
So we start the day by eating Eid breakfast which is.. it is tradition for it to be sweet
breakfast.
So my family is of south Asian heritage and what we like to have is this sweet dovish
of vermicelli noodles which have been soaked in really nice condensed or sweetened milk
which is absolutely amazing.
This is known as sawaiyaan or others like to call it sheer khurma.
The delightfulness of all the sweet treats hat we have has led to this Eid being known
as meethi Eid which is sweet Eid.
This indicates the importance of the sweet nature of the dishes that we consume in this
period of time.
It’d be interesting to know what other Muslims across the world eat for Eid breakfast.
Do you have halwa or sweet breads?
What does your family eat?
We’d like to know.
Let us and the followers know what you eat for Eid breakfast.
Next stop we have the Eid prayer.
This is offered in congregational settings , communal prayer sessions usually in Mosques
or community centres.
Now given the reality of Covid reality there will be no congregational prayers happening
across the UK.
Mosques and community centres remain shut.
Although the Uk govt has eased some restrictions near the middle of May, congregational prayer
sadly will not be happening.
This is because it may put peoples lives at risk, being in such close proximity.
Instead, you can offer communal prayer with your family, at home.
Please check with your school of thought, because some schools of thought have deemed
it permissible to offer the Eid prayer at home.
For others this is prohibited.
I would recommend checking with the Board of British Scholars and Imams as well as the
Muslim Council of Britain for further guidance on this matter.
Now another aspect of Eid is charitable giving.
Muslims offer charity, usually in the form of Sadaqah or in this case Zakat al Fitr to
the needy and poor.
A sum of money is given on behalf of each member of the household towards a charitable
cause.
usually, this is aimed at international charities.
However, given the reality of what’s happening in our midst, you know how badly Covid has
affected our local communities here in Britain, it might be worth considering donating your
Zakat and Sadaqah toward local charitable causes.
I am aware that Mosques, for instance , have upscaled their burial services.
It might be worth considering giving to them.
Now what is Eid without Eidi?
You’re probably thinking ‘well what is Eidi?’
Eidi is a gift or present usually in the form of money that older people in the household;
parents, grandparents, uncles, aunties give to the younger members of the family.
Given that we live in an era of Covid this might be difficult because we won’t be having
family over.
That’s no excuse for Eid to be restricted or for the elders to hold back.
There’s always bank transfers, the same way you’ll be giving your Zakat and Sadaqah
do consider Eidi to be given in the same way.
Now, usually at Eid as you’ve probably gathered, we have the whole family around.
Family friends and neighbours gather around for the Eid dinner.
Now given there wont be any visiting of grandparents, uncles, aunties, extended family, given the
Covid reality.
It might also be worth considering that we ease off the cooking a littl bit.
Maybe cook in moderation.
This is a reminder to myself first and foremost that gluttony is indeed haram, there shouldn’t
be any need for such hayvoonary.
Perhaps ease off a little bit.
Now, Eid, certainly in my household like in most, is all about the family.
Sadly, given Covid has happened.
Many people have family members who are key workers out there on the frontline serving
humanity, I implore our listeners to keep all these people in your thoughts and prayers.
I know eid wont be the same this year for my family, because my brother Ahmed who is
my only sibling is out working on-call shifts during Eid weekend.
InshAllah we will be reunited soon.
Till then we have zoom.
So that’s probably worth considering.
phone calls and zoom calls not just to family internationally, but also locally in Britain.
It might be worth instead of risking anything by visiting family.
Eid also means that some Muslim families like to go out, go for a walk maybe in the park
if its a beautiful day.
Again, this is something that perhaps might be risky.
It might be ok by guidelines to go outside for a small period of time.
But given that we dont want to take any risk.
It’s perhaps best that we celebrate Eid fully at home.
Play board games, quizzes or anything really.
DO make use of the technology at hand, because we dont kno show long this will continue,
this reality of Covid, but inshAllah it will ease off very soon.
While this is supposed to be a joyous occasion, the reality means that it is quite a somber
time.
Pease remember the tens of thousands of people across Britain, and indeed the world, who
have lost their lives to Covid since the outbreak began.
Here in the UK, the death toll continues to increase unfortunately.
Most people I’m sure know someone who has lost their life or knows of someone who has
lost family members who have lost their lives to this awful virus.
So I would request that listeners and followers who are of faith to pray for those who have
lost their lives, and indeed those who have family members who have lost their lives.
For those who remain it is a deeply sad and remorseful time who have lost their loved
ones.
So let’s pray that god gives them, strength and ease in this tumultuous time.
Now, as we bid farewell to the Holy month of Ramadan let us carry forward all that we’ve
learnt and developed this time period.
Let us ensure that the patience, self growth and Taqwa, or God consciousness, that we have
worked hard to attain throughout the month, keep alive and thriving for the rest of the
year.
So from us here at the Cadbury Centre, we wish you all a very happy Eid.
Eid Mubarak and God bless, Thanks for listening.