A Muslim man gave an explanation of Eid for people who might be unaware of this special Islamic occasion and are interested to learn about it. He explained what Eid means and what Muslims do on this day.
A Muslim content creator has explained what Eid is for those who are unaware of this important Islamic celebration.
Eid is a Muslim holiday that takes place twice a year. The first is Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, the month when Muslims fast daily from before sunrise to sunset. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.
This year Eid al-Fitr is expected to fall on Sunday, March 30 or Monday, March 31 depending on the sighting of the moon as Muslims follow a lunar calendar. Mohmmad Mustafa shared a video on TikTok giving further details.
He said: “Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan and is also a celebration of the hard work that Muslims put in through the whole month. The term Eid al-Fitr literally means the celebration or the festival of ‘al-Fitr’ (the ‘breaking of the fast’) because today Muslims are not fasting and they’re celebrating the end of Ramadan.”
Mohmmad added that on this day, Muslims usually attend the Eid prayer at their local mosque in the morning where they gather with their local community and sometimes breakfast is offered. Muslims greet each other on this special day by saying ‘Eid Mubarak’ which translates to ‘blessed feast’ or ‘blessed festival.’ After coming home from the mosque, Muslims often contact their family members to say Eid Mubarak.
The TikTok content creator continued: “And then you spend the rest of the day with your family and you go out and you just have fun because it is a day of celebration. On this day Muslims will dress up and wear their finest clothes and you know, make sure they look clean and nice because Eid al-Fitr is one of our only holidays throughout the whole year.”
Muslims also share a special at home with their families, or some go out to eat at restaurants. The second is Eid al-Adha and follows the completion of Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage.
It falls on the tenth day in the final (twelfth) month of the Islamic calendar, Dhu-al-Hijjah. Eid al-Adha is celebrated to commemorate Prophet Ibrahim’s devotion to Allah and his readiness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, according to Muslim Aid.
The UK faith based international non-governmental organisation adds: “At the very point of sacrifice, Allah replaced Ismail with a ram, which was to be slaughtered in place of his son. This command from Allah was a test of Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness and commitment to obey his lord’s command, without question. Therefore, Eid-ul-Adha means the festival of sacrifice.” This story is shared in both the Bible and the Quran but the son in the biblical version is Isaac.
Mohmmad’s TikTok video focusing on Eid al-Fitr has garnered 634,700 views, 31,900 likes and nearly 300 comments, at the time of writing. One user said: “As a non-Muslim he ain’t lying, the drip that they put on during this time is breathtaking. They all look so gorgeous.”
Another added: “I am not Muslim but I love learning about faith/religion and the amazing community it can create, so thank you.” A third commented: “I’m not Muslim but this sounds so lovely! So much family interaction with spirituality. That’s so neat.”