With the recent joyous occasion of Eid I list childhood memories of what Eid meant and entailed to us as children and then as adults.

As Muslims we celebrate two Eids. The first being Eid Al Fitr which is the Feast of Breaking the Fast’ It is a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. While Eid al-Adha is the ‘Feast of the Sacrifice’ honoring the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son to Allah however Allah provided a lamb to sacrifice instead. So in commemoration of this, a sheep or lamb is sacrificed ritually with one third of their meat consumed by the family offering the sacrifice, while the rest is distributed to the poor and needy.

With Eid Al Fitr morning enjoying a full filling breakfast after a month of fasting marked the beginning of the celebration and with Eid Al Adha the sacrificial slaughter is taught and sometimes demonstrated to children, teaching them the meaning behind it and how to share the meat with others and why…

Both Eids also start by the soothing, comforting sounds of dawn prayers from the mosques with parents taking their children along to pray.

I recall as a child Eid meant staying up all the night before anticipating Eid day and all the candy and Eidyas (money) one was going to get.

Eid for us as children was the excitement of wearing our fancy Eid clothes matched with fancy bags (to carry all the eidyas in) or wallets and fancy shoes. Eidyas being celebratory money distributed to cheer the children up.

Eid for us girls was blow drying and styling our hairs with fancy sparkly bows and clips and getting away with adding some lipstick and eye pencil and nail polish before being old enough to do so.

Eid was the gatherings of family and friends, distant and close.

Eid was visiting and receiving guests all day mainly in the house of the family elders; usually a grandparents home.

Eid was a feast to eat and a sugar rush of desserts and sweets. Biryani, Lamb, Harees, Thireed, cake, chocolate, aseeda, jelly, fruit salads, ice cream… just to name a few of our traditional dishes.

Eid was paying respect to the family elders and in turn receiving their blessings. Eid was the greeting of cousins and relatives distant or close.

Eid meant greeting each other as well as if we haven’t been seeing each other every day or every week. It’s a funny yet exciting feeling as well.

Eid was the spread of good wishes and kind words. Eid unites us and brings us altogether, making us reach out to one another putting any disputes aside.

Eid is every child’s dream come true as they eagerly count how much “eidya” they’ve collected, spending some of it on presents and toys the next day!

Eid as we grow older becomes more about giving before receiving. Today a child’s excitement and sparkly eyes as they receive a eidya from me takes me back to when I was that child and gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart.

Eid in short is a rush of wonderful emotions and beautiful memories. Eid is faith, love, laughter and peace.

And to end this simple entry I wish you a Eid Mubarak from my heart to yours ❤️ May it bring you all the joy you’ve been waiting for and more 💐