After a grueling summer month of not eating and drinking during daylight hours for most of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims, the day July 6th was cause for celebration and feasting for Muslims as they marked the end of the holy month of Ramadanwith Eid al-Fitr.
Eid al-Fitr means “festival of breaking the fast” and is a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims the world over. It's a day of observance, but also an occasion for Muslims to show their gratitude to God, as well as give alms to the poor. It commemorates the end of Islam’s holiest month of Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar in which Muslims adhere to a strict fast observed from sunrise to sunset.
Ramadan is considered a sacred month in Islam because it’s when Muslims believe the first verses of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad more than 1,400 years ago.
Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr don't fall on the same dates each year because of the lunar calendar, so the dates are calculated by the phases of the moon. Eid al-Fitr cannot start without a confirmed sighting of the new moon. Time zones can also impact when Eid al-Fitr starts.
The holiday comes after recent terrorist attacks in Bangladesh, Turkey, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia have left hundreds dead, and a Muslim world still reeling from the loss.
"Eid is supposed to be a time of joy and celebration following a month of renewed spiritual commitment," said a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization to ABC News. "Unfortunately, this year's Eid is overshadowed by the many acts of violence we have witnessed in our nation and worldwide, and by the growing Islamophobia that is being promoted and exploited by irresponsible public figures."
Eid al-Fitr is usually celebrated over a couple of days, with followers of Islam dressing in their finest clothes, exchanging small gifts and cards, and hosting parties and gatherings with lavish foods.
Many Muslim countries have their own deep-rooted traditions and cultural ways of celebrating the holiday. In the United States, most Muslims gather together in large convention halls or Islamic centers to pray the Salat al-Eid, which is a special prayer reserved for the holiday.
Muslims greet each other with "Eid Mubarak" meaning "blessed celebration" following the prayer, though the language can vary across the world. Afterwards, Muslims attend parties and visit friend's homes for large feasts in mosques or community halls.
Source: abcnews.go.com
