sadaf Iftikhar -  The day of Eid-ul-fitr is a day of pleasure and happiness for the Muslims. Muslims celebrate this day with full enthusiasm and wish eid Mubarak to each other. It is also a gift for the Muslims after having the fasts in the holy month of Ramadan. They enjoy this day and forget their all previous quarrels. This is a day when Muslims around the world try to show a common goal of unity. They pay eid prayer in a mosque and say eid Mubarak to each other.
Eid ul-Fitr, also called Feast of Breaking the Fast, the Sugar Feast, the Sweet Festival and the lesser eid but the social meaning of Eid is joyful festival. Eid al-Fitr is also connoted as a festival of distributing fitra, a form of charity from rich to poor, helping them to celebrate Eid. The first day of Eid ul-Fitr falls on the first day of the month of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. The celebrations of eid continue three days and the people enjoy all the days with happiness. The night before Eid is called Chaand Raat, which means, "Night of the Moon." On this night People gather in open areas with their friends and families to spot the new moon, and when the moon is sighted, people wish each other Chaand Raat Mubarak or Eid Mubarak .People visit bazaars and shopping malls with their families for Eid shopping and buy new clothes and shoes for them and their Childs. Women especially young girls, apply the traditional Mehndi, or henna, on their hands and feet. , and buy colorful and beautiful bangles for them. Women prepare desserts for the next day of Eid. City streets have a festive look, and brightly decorated malls and markets remain open late into the night. Chaand Raat is celebrated festively and passionately by Muslims, and in socio-cultural significance.
In Pakistan this event celebrated with full anthausiasm.On this event every Muslim try best to wear and best to eat. People decorate and clean their houses and streets, mosques are also decorated, shopping centers and food corners are also especially decorated for eid .People send eid cards and different gifts to each other before the eid. Girls also buy gifts for their friends with bangles .and boys mostly use the telephonic ways to wish their friends. People also post the eid cards out of country to wish greetings to their relatives. On this day people get up early in the morning and after taking they dress up new clothes with applying perfume, Girls like to wear bangles and have matching accessories, males offer eid pray in the mosques and after that they exchange greetings by hugging each other, shaking hands and passing blessings and prayers to each other. . The elders give eidi to the children and children like to have more eidi than the others.
It is common for children to offer 'salam' to parents and adult relatives. After the Eid prayers, some families visit graveyards and pray for the salvation of departed family members. People go to their relatives with gifts for sharing the happiness of eid and they forget their all quarrels and try to settle the disputes for the happiness of ALLAH. The people who lived in abroad missed their homeland and their loved ones and also try to come back to enjoy this occasion with their families.Special dishes, drinks and variety of desserts made for serving the guests like cake, biscuits, chaat and dahi bhalay etc. Women also made other dishes like biryani, qorma etc at home. People enjoy the feasts and also invite their relatives at home. The children like to go to parks and zoo, lots of mobile food shops, game shops, and outdoor rides (see-saw, pirate-ship, ferrous-wheel, etc.) setup for kids to enjoy all day, and the youngsters like to enjoy with their friends.Savaiyaan is the famous dish of eid .women made savaiyaan at home at early morning and all the family eat them and enjoy. They send them also in their neighbors.
Bakeries made special cakes for eid and restaurants also made special foods for people .The shopping centers also introduce new offers and give special discount for people over all accessories. At home family members enjoy special Eid breakfast with various types of sweets and deserts, including traditional desert sheer korma, which is made of vermicelli, milk, butter, dry fruits and dates, etc.
On the eid day every channel broadcast special transmission for people, special dramas and programs telecast for the children. Sometimes new movies also made for eid .Along the TV channels the radio stations also play their role they on aired the special programs and songs for people and wished eid to the whole country. Mobile phone companies also introduce call and sms packages on cheap rates for people.
Eid parties organize in offices and people enjoy the feasts together. The educational institutions like schools and universities also celebrate this event with their like they held parties for their students which is called “EID MILLAN PARTY” and the students enjoys a lot.
In short eid ul fitr come with lots of happiness but we should also remember to the poor and needy people in our pleasure so that they can also enjoy the happiness of eid.We should help the poor and needy people who can’t afford to buy new dresses, or to eat fresh eid dish. If we help them they will be able to enjoy the event of eid and God will be happy.n