At the end of month-long fasting during Ramadan, Chand Raat, is welcomed rapturously and joyously, with Eid preparations well underway. Stores and shopping malls are lit with brightly coloured lights, all brightly decorated and festive. Shops remain open until early morning for crowds of shoppers making last preparations, buying sweets and last minute ingredients, but mainly just enjoying the ambience and the throngs of joyous people making the most of the eve of Eid. According to Hadith, women should be encouraged to be out and about, enjoying participating in the celebrations of Eid, visiting family and friends in their homes and taking time to go and visit their parents. Along with the men, women offer Eid’s Prayer in the many Mosques and Madrassas.
As Eid is celebrated by Muslims around the world, the favourite Eid recipes are different according to the different cultures and inevitably, fashions and the Eid activities of the women will be different around the world. Celebrating Eid in a country where there may be little in the way of Muslim communities can be an isolating and difficult experience. One way Muslim women in Britain marked the occasion of Eid last year was through joining together in Birmingham for a women’s-only day with the Muslim Women’s Sports Foundation. This kind of occasion is welcomed in a land where Muslim practices are few and far between, apart from the Eid prayer in the morning. Eid does not feature on television and there is no mention of Eid in the shops – nor any brightly decorated shops and throngs of shoppers to mingle amongst. Where there are Muslim communities, Eid parties are arranged, with bazaars and other fun-filled activities, but to the population surrounding you, Eid is not something that is a visible facet of daily life around you. However, in Muslim countries this is completely different and Eid is awaited with great anticipation.
According to Hadith, women should be encouraged to be out and about, enjoying participating in the celebrations of Eid, visiting family and friends in their homes and taking time to go and visit their parents. Women prepare for the Eid festival long before it is time for Eid to be celebrated. All individuals like to dress in new clothes, with women and children looking particularly good in their new dresses. Many women take a particular pride to ensure they create their own dresses and those of their young daughters, in accordance with the ordinance laid down in the Qur’an. Women should not wear perfume when out in public: bangles and Mehndi are encouraged and acceptable methods for a Muslim woman to adorn herself when out of the home. Women and children get together on the eve of Eid to apply mehndi decoration to their hands and feet and to all help with the preparations for the next day’s celebrations and feasting. Beautiful floral mehndi designs are worn as adornment for hands and feet, while bangles complement the Eid dresses. Despite the inevitable cooking, Eid is an ideal time for women to out and about, enjoying the crowds milling around and shopping and, overall, it is a day of feasting and fun.