The Muslim New Day and the Significance of Maghrib Prayer
Did you know in Muslims' New Day doesn't start at 12:00 but around the maghrib prayer which is also the 4th prayer of the day happened around 7 pm? See, just started reading, and a fair chance you learned something new. Next time surprise your Muslim Friend around 7 pm and the last month of the Muslim Calendar to wish new year. Yup, we have a whole different calendar system too. Why I am focusing too much on Magrib? Let's uncover this one step at a time. Stick with me, it will be a journey filled with wonders.
The Preparations and Traditions of Eid al-Fitr Eve
So, What is Eid? How many Eid are there? Which one I am talking about and why makes it unique? The literal meaning of Eid is "Festival or Holiday" but often referred to as the day of Happiness. There are two types of Eid and today we will discuss my routine of Eid al-Fitr.
So, the day of Eid started around 7 pm, and many guests gathered to receive one of my house members from Itakaf. Itakaf is similar to cutting off from the world and spending spiritual time with the creator. 30 days of fasting and then this moment of joy to meet my family member. We did our last Iftar (food) and guests left one by one. Since we had Eid the next day most of our time was spent preparing food and doing house chores. I remember visiting the tailor around 3 midnight and the parlor. No, I hadn't visited a parlor, men go to makeup parlors rarely (are at least the people I know) I was there for my sister. The night ended giving me only 1.5 hours to sleep.
I woke up at about around 5:50 in the morning. Took a shower, dressed up, drink tea, and then it was time to pray around 7:45. Eid prayers are different than regular prayers (come two times a year) and no matter how much someone tries to remember most of the time we notice people lagging in prayers, trusting their guts. Eid prayed is an enjoyable time of my day. When Imam (scholar) was talking about their old age shelters, I poked my dad with my knee. It's something I do all the time when someone talks about old age shelters, I enjoy seeing 1000s of reactions in seconds on my parent's faces when I do this joke on them, anytime anywhere, it works.
Online Fun, Calls, and Excitement
After coming back home, all my favorite wasn't prepared yet, I did another joke in HivePakistan discord,
I enjoyed giving people tongue twisters while I was wishing for Eid Day. Then I joined some other chats like neoxian city for more Eid day online fun. My all applications notification are turned off, so when I opened WhatsApp, I reached tons of messages wishing me. Most of them were copy-pasted and sent to all. After replying to them, I had to attend calls from my cousin and other members (my father's sisters and their family, etc). After wishing everyone it was time to collect EIDI (taking and giving money on Eid day). I don't remember what I gave to others but I did collect a handsome amount of Eidi as most people now even send EIDI online so no geographical restrictions (yes, you can tip my EIDI on this blog too. Don't be shy.). My mom was demanding 200$ as her EIDI from me cause I earn online, LOL.
A Visit to the Graveyard and Reflections on Life and Death
Ok, so I slept after all these online, calls and other talks. I woke up around 3 in the afternoon and quickly wished for my food. A side note chickpeas chaat is my favorite ("Sufad chany ki chaat", everything sounds expensive in English, xD). Why I ate quickly was cause it was time to meet my belated Grandmother. Yup, we visited the graveyard around Assar prayer (3rd prayer of the day) and the site of the graveyard should remember us of death and sorrow and reminded me more about life and its beauty. Somewhere around 4:00 to 4:30 pigeons gathered around the graveyard. Some of the graves were too astonishing. I saw one grave which was decorated with smooth rocks. The precision, and smoothness of that grave and environment around us were breathtaking. For once, I actually forgot we are not the only ones there and this is a graveyard, not a heaven. While coming back from the graveyard my dad asked me If I wanna eat something. It was another shock to my father when I told him the direction of a specific shop from LASSI (yogurt-based beverage with a smoothie-like consistency). Why a shock? He was unaware if I prefer Lassi. Another reason for wishful thinking about it is they didn't let me roam around much so I shouldn't know about the city. My family once found out after 2 years when I told them I can travel SOLO by bus. Nah, our buses are built differently even the Fast and Furious movie is nothing in comparison to our buses.
A Memorable EID Night at the Beach
After spending quality time drinking Lassi with my father we reached home. We actually had a plan to visit my aunt (my mother's sister) but my family canceled it cause they were the tired cause of various reasons. I asked permission from my dad to visit my cousin's place around 20 days ago, if you read my blog "Everything about me and sports!" then you will understand why I asked permission in advance. While the actual was to give him a visit on day 2, now I left to meet him on day 1 of EID. He lives by himself while his mother lives in the village so yes He is a good cook. Can't express the taste of Kheer and the Custard he made also with other food items. I never in a million dreamed about visiting his place on the first day of EID cause it's usually reserved for attending guests as I am the only son. We went to eat out at a place which was over crowed and had low standards according to me but the food was delicious cause I expected it to be different. He ate every cell of my brain with his talks before the food came (literally I was annoyed by the topic choices as he was only doing it to mess with me), it was a relief that my brain cells generated faster than he can finish them. Even another person who was from his staff (his employee) was feeling uncomfortable. After some time, it was time to leave around 10 but my heart wanted to stay longer. What do you think will happen next (I already got permission by pre-booking but now I wanted to extend it till morning, OH POOR LITTLE BOY ALONE IN NIGHT FAR FROM FAMILY, lol)? I contact my father and told him how he, his other two business partners, and their staff want to go to Beech and spend the night there. BOOM, to my surprise my father gave me permission to spend EID night on Beech with 11 others. We were in Suzuki (used for business deliveries) with the back open where 10 were standing enjoying and singing in the open air while traveling while I and my cousin were sitting in the front seats. The whole travel experience was next level.
On beech, we all ate food items things as per our liking. We enjoyed ourselves a lot in the waves, at night and much much more. I changed my dress cause of sand from beech, cleaned myself in the shower properly, and slept after coming back. Around 10 in the morning, he dropped me at my place. Oh, and we also had a last KitKat shake together on the way.
EID ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITY 1 HBD:
Comment a picture of your dress and the food you had on Eid. If you don't celebrate Eid then your last festival. One person will WIN 1 HBD tip on their comment. Yup, consider it as EIDI from my side, lol.
Wanna read more? Check out my First Day Of Year 2023!
It would have been exciting if I took this turn in life but instead I was on my laptop working on Learning Managing System usability. I sacrificed my pleasure over important stuff. It was a 3 persons task but all others were celebrating the new year so responsibility fall on my shoulder and I completed it within the deadline. I don't know why people assign deadlines or exam schedules in the new year. :)
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