As a window into what happens during Eid day for lots of Muslim families, Solat Chaudhry, CEO of the National Centre for Diversity has written the following text. Hopefully, it will make you smile as you read it.
Eid is as cherished as a family event to Muslims as Christmas is to everyone else in the UK (ie British people of all origins that might not even believe in a God). Indeed, lots of Muslims also enjoy the whole thing around Christmas too.
It’s great to know that human nature is the same the world over. Because of neuroscience we now know that it is the things that we have in common that bring us together. So, it could be reassuring to know that all the exact dynamics are in play on Eid day as are at play at Christmas eg., boorish relatives or in-laws, too much food, too much Coca-Cola (as opposed to booze), noisy and excited children either happy with their Eid money or disappointed because Uncle Arif decided to give them something that is of no interest to them. Then we have the arguments about which part of the extended family structure will host the get-together next year.
The great thing though about Eid is that most families travel back to the family ‘HQ’ from wherever they are in the country or indeed the world. It’s a great get together. For the vast majority it starts in the morning by visiting the mosque – which always seems to go on too long. The Imams invariably take advantage of a much larger than normal congregation to tell us about the importance of prayer, charity, respect for elders, decency, honesty , repentance and how to get to heaven! Then to conclude they do a very long prayer for everyone in the world.
Then we all go home and have a huge meal and the myriad of conversations start in the different corners. You have the boastful in-laws or relatives. You also have the meek and mild ones and the ones that complain about anything and everything. Then you invariably have the parents smiling and enjoying the discussions and reminiscing about when their now grown-up children were small – making the parents feel nostalgic and a little sad at the thought that their kids are no longer kids – then remembering how much hard work it was bringing them up and quickly shifting back into thinking “Thank God we don’t have to do all that anymore.”
Eid Mubarak!
