Just like the month of Ramadan Eid is a very important event for all the Muslims all over the world as it marks the end of the month of Ramadan and to give gratitude to Allah for His blessings. It is a festival full of joy and happiness for everyone.
First we will talk about the celebrations and traditions of Eid as we all have fun following the customs of Eid. So let us start with Chand Raat.
Chaand Raat
Soon after the iftaar of the 29th/30th Ramadan everyone wants to go out to sight the moon by themselves. After the sighting of the Shawal moon, Eid celebration begins. Everyone starts preparing for the Eid happening next day. Preparing their dresses and decorating their houses, it all happens at chaand raat. The women enjoy the pleasure of Chand Raat with applying mehndi (henna) on their hands. It has become a tradition. Many people love going out for shopping on Chand Raat and enjoy buying the remaining things, eating out, having fun with friends and families and return home for the Eid celebrations on dawn.
Eid Day
The celebrations of Eid fully start at the dawn of first day of Shawal. After offering the Eid prayers everyone greets and wishes each other a happy Eid with zeal. After returning home everyone enjoys the pleasures and sweetness of Eid with sweet the traditional sheer khurma at home and forgetting not to mention the other delicious items which we all enjoy throughout the day with our family and friends. Eid is a great festival for spending some quality time with our families and pay a visit to those relatives and friends whom we have not seen otherwise.
Visiting relatives, friends and neighbors is also a custom of the Eid celebrations. People hold family get together and Eid Milan parties to exchange the greetings with each other.
Eid and Kids
We usually hear a general term by adults saying that Eid is for kids. Well true in sense as children seems to enjoy it more than us adults. All the festivities including going for the Eid prayers with their father, uncle or siblings, enjoying delicious food, having fun playing around with friends and family and of course the thing which is the biggest source of happiness for a kid, Eidi and if you don’t know what is Eidi then you know nothing about Eid.
So what is Eidi? Eidi is a Persian word which means gift. This gift is usually the cash given to children by adults on Eid. This is the most fun part for kids, getting Eidi, counting it and spending them on snacks or fun rides at the parks. Recently, it is seen that adults usually gift toys or any other thing which the kid would love instead of cash but the kids won’t love to get some Eidi in cash.
Parents, Kids and Eid
Being the adult in-charge, parents usually get busy in greetings the guests and other Eid activities leaving their kids to play on their own. As a result the kids spend all their Eid time playing around and spending their Eidi. But this is not the Eid is all about. Eid is all about celebrations, festivity and happiness. You get more happiness when you spread it around. Parents should encourage their kids to also include those kids who are unable to celebrate Eid with the same spirit as they do. The better way there is to teach the kids by showing them the example instead of just telling because actions speak louder than words. It is a message for not only kids but for us adults as well.
We should thank Allah for all we have and teach our children to do the same. Teach the kids the basics of the religious activities at Eid by taking them to the Eid prayers with you; teach them about the pleasures of sharing, self control and charity. How this can be done? It is very easy. Give charity to the needy in front of your kids and tell them why it is important, encourage your kids to take part in fund raisers such as making gifts for the needy kids or encourage them to give some of their own as charity because it is all about spreading happiness on Eid. You will get lots of happiness for that small amount of charity which you give.
Eid is round the corner and it is the best way to spend some quality time with family. So let's just talk about the celebrations and traditions of Eid. What it is all about and how to celebrate it especially with kids? Each and everything related to Eid
