Blessed Eid to all

Kathmandu:

On the heels of Yama Panchak or Tihar, comes Eid-ul-Fitr on November 4. This marks the end of Ramadan or the holy month of fasting for the Muslims. It was during this month that the holy Quran was revealed.

Most of us are familiar with the saying “Eid Mubarak ho” mostly from our education through the popular Bollywood movies. Well, this is the day when Muslims go around wishing each other Eid Mubarak.

For most of us Eid signifies delicious food like biryani, kofta, kebabs, and more delicious food. However, “the celebration is not about merry-making and fun fare. It is entirely related to the purification of mind and soul,” said Mohammad Rafik, 78, a retired teacher.

Muslims believe that they have attained spiritual uplift after a month of fasting. “It’s a joyous occasion with significant religious importance,” said Rafik.

People dress in their finery and attend a special congregational prayer in the morning. After the service, worshippers greet and embrace each other in a spirit of peace, love and brotherhood and visit friends and relatives.

Over a billion Muslims worldwide celebrate the festival. On this day, they show their joy for health, strength and opportunities of life, which Allah has given them to fulfil their obligations of fasting and other good deeds during Ramadan.

“It is mandatory for every Muslim to donate 2.5 per cent of his earnings of the year on the day of Eid,” explained Mohammad Jamir. They are expected to extend the charity or jaakat to the needy. As part of Muslim culture, helping the needy is a way to express gratitude

towards Allah. “The earnings is believed to be sanctified after a portion has been shared with the needy,” added Sheikh Abdul Kalam, a columnist for a vernacular weekly.

Children receive new clothes and presents. Elders get to meet long separated relatives. People visit each other’s homes and partake in festive meals with special dishes, beverages, and desserts. “It is a day of forgiveness, moral victory and peace, fellowship, brotherhood and unity,” said Kalam.

It is also a day of forgetting old grudges and ill feelings towards other fellow men,

he added.