Eid - Superior Festival

[ummtaalib]

Eid - Superior Festival

by Mohammed Ilyas Pandor

 

No sooner has one season of favours passed, Allah Taa'la has bestowed us with another occasion of blessings. The moon of Ramadhan has hardly waned when the moon of the days of Hajj has begun to wax.

In between, we are fortunate enough to witness the festivities of non-Muslims, fortunate because it increases our appreciation of our festive days. There is not one thing which they do not have, in which we have not been given something superior or rather we have been given something superior in whose response, the non-Muslims have attempted to rival it and have failed miserably.

 

“But if you do it not, and you can never do it…………..”

 

Most festivities have little or no historical authenticity. Rather it is presumed conjecture which has been scrupulously glamorised into a spirit of commercial enterprise making many non-religious people actually celebrate events they cannot bring themselves to actually believe in. Millions of hard earned cash has disappeared into a black hole accounting for nothing but drunkardness and a feeling of spiritual depravity. Even in the blinding light of these facts, Muslims sadly have adopted the ways of others and forgotten the Hadith of Prophet Muhammed :

 

“Whoever imitates a certain nation, he will be from amongst them.”

 

Even if we do not imitate them outwardly, some of us may harbour significant feelings towards non-Muslim festivities to the extent that we may feel ‘left out' on their days of celebration. This is a sign indicative of the weakness of our spiritual state and the downward spiral to spiritual emptiness that we find ourselves in.

 

Moreover, festivities are more or less exclusive now in the sense that almost invariably poor folk are not catered for. How can they expect to be when the donators themselves are forced to take loans out (such as interest based overdrafts, credit agreements, etc) in order to finance a hyped-up commercial season. The benefactors are in the same boat as the beneficiaries.

 

In contrast, by the grace of Allah Taa'la, we have a festival full of spirituality, tolerance, inclusiveness and most importantly moderation. Muslims are encouraged to celebrate Eid bearing in mind their less fortunate brethren and understanding the confines of Shariah as regards to celebrating in Islam. The fasting in Ramadhan before Eid-al-Fitr trains people to experience and remember the needs of the less fortunate, with charity being one of the main outputs. Similarly Eid-al-Adha all over the world in the Month of Hajj involves the Qurbani which again involves making financial sacrifices for the sake of the Needy. The pure Shariah has even taught humans how to celebrate as humans.

 

In addition, a Muslim has an opportunity to make everyday a day of Eid, says Said ibn Jaabir :

“Everyday that is spent without the displeasure and disobedience of the Lord is a day of Eid for the believers”

 

In conclusion, I appeal to my readers to make everyday of their lives a day of Eid by not disobeying Allah.

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