What Eid means to me and my favourite memories?

This year has truly been incredible to see the number of people and organisations come together for the celebration of Ramadan. So many organisations have taken to their social media channels to not only wish their Muslim colleagues a blessed Ramadan but have also actively engaged in various activities to show support for their Muslim colleagues.?Whether that be by participating in a fasting challenge and raising money for charity, hosting an iftar (breaking of the fast) for their Muslim colleagues, getting curious and engaging in open conversations about Ramadan, participating in initiatives taking place online such as the #fancyadate led by Farhana Kuddus and many other fantastic initiatives. It’s been refreshing to see our faith being spoken about and celebrated in such a positive way, which hasn’t always been the case.

As we come towards the end of Ramadan, I would like to highlight the celebration that is yet to come. Eid-ul-fitr. Eid-ul-fitr is the celebration that takes place to mark the ending of the month long fasting of Ramadan. It is a time for families and friends to come together celebrating this blessed occasion and is a significant time for Muslims all around the world. I thought I’d take a moment to reflect upon what Eid means to me and also share my favourite memories of Eid growing up.

Eid is a day that brings me great joy as it fills my heart with warmth and brings a smile to my face when I think back to all those beautiful memories of this blessed day. You never know what day Eid is going to land on until the night before because this is based upon the sighting of the new moon, which is not something that can be predicted days or weeks ahead (so if you wonder why some of your Muslim colleagues are so last minute with their Eid holiday, it’s usually because of this reason). But the night before Eid was always a mad rush in our home, we would wait for the Adhaan (call to prayer) to break our fast and then we would wait in anticipation to see if the Imam of the mosque would announce Eid day for the following day. If he’d confirm that there has been a negative sighting of the new moon, we would fast another day but if there had been a positive sighting the rush would begin.

Mum would start rushing around, preparing for the big feast which is to take place the following day and me and my siblings would start preparing. Whether that would be in taking our baths, ironing our clothes, straightening our hair or applying henna on our hands. My favourite part was applying henna to my hands, I just loved the smell of henna (fun fact – I’m actually a qualified henna artist and used to do bridal/party henna as a side hustle. Totally retired now). I remember all the girls in the neighbourhood used to get together and we’d apply henna, obviously everyone wanted me to do their henna because I used to apply it the best at the time haha.

Eventually, as we would reach closer to midnight and mum had finally calmed down and was fully immersed in her preparation, I would sit there applying henna to my own hand (I could only do my left hand because I was right-handed). Then I’d put it on my feet and get told off by my mum because culturally we were told that only married women would apply henna to their feet, but you know me, always breaking the rules and questioning the status quo. I’d wait for my henna to dry before I would fall asleep with it still on because I wanted the colour to come on as dark as possible and the longer you left it, the darker the stain.

We’d be up at the crack of dawn and the first thing I would do is look at my hands to see how dark my henna was by crumbling off the dried henna paste from my hands. I could hear my dad and brother’s rushing around trying to get ready for the mosque in order to make it for the first Jamaat (congregation) for Eid prayer. My favourite smell of Eid was the smell of onions being fried in butter in preparation for the chicken pilau and the Rose incense sticks being burnt around the house, you just knew it was Eid day.

I’d put on my new Eid outfit and my make-up on first thing in the morning. The men of the family would come back after Eid prayers and visiting a few relatives homes and everyone would greet one another by saying Eid Mubarak and giving one another a hug and like every Eid since growing up we would ask for our Eidi (Eid money). ?Growing up, we never were given gifts for Eid but instead money and by the end of the day after receiving so many ten-pound notes, we’d sit there counting how much money we’d made, annoyed if one sibling had more than the other. This tradition has started to phase out and we tend to give presents to the younger generation but the elders in the families still stick to giving Eidi, which brings back joyful memories.

We’d love visiting our extended families homes, eating all the Eid speciality dishes Chicken pilau, Zarda (sweet rice), kheer (rice pudding), samosas, chicken roast, chicken spring rolls, chaat. The list was endless. We’d play with our relatives in every house we visited and trust me we had a lot of houses to visit and we’d run to the local shops to spend our money on sweets and toys. By the end of the day, we’d all be slumped on the sofa because we’d eaten so much. But there was always room for tea. We’d sit together and reminisce about the day whilst sipping on traditional desi chai, yes even as teen.

If you don’t celebrate Eid, I hope you’ve enjoyed a little insight into what Eid is. It’s about celebration, togetherness, love, happiness and lots and lots of food!

?And for those of you that do celebrate Eid, what is your favourite memory of Eid??