Importance of celebration
Celebration is essential to making a place achieve the feeling and reality of inclusion. A celebration can build connections among diverse people and cultures by lifting up and understanding our commonalities and differences.
This year, Muslims will celebrate Eid al-Fitr on either May 12th or May 13th, depending on the sighting of the waxing crescent moon, bringing in the month of Shawwal after the month of Ramadan.
Eid al-Fitr: Breaking the Fast
Eid is the culmination of a month-long exercise in reflection and self-denial – the Muslim observation of the month of Ramadan. Ramadan’s position on the Gregorian calendar rotates a little bit each year, as the Islamic calendar consists of 12 lunar months and is ten or eleven days shorter than a solar year. Ramadan began in 2021 on April 12th and will end on May 12th.
During this month, Muslims practice fasting from sun-up to sun-down, with regular daily prayers. Each evening after sundown and in the morning before sunrise, Muslims eat Iftar and Suhur, breaking the fast in the evening, and preparing for the next day of fasting in the morning. Ramadan is also a time to emphasize charity, especially the required giving of a portion known as Zakat Al-Fitr, to ensure that everyone is able to celebrate the festival of Eid al-Fitr at the end.
Celebrations
Eid celebrations vary internationally from bathing to henna, to lanterns, but common themes include generosity, family, and reflection, and prayer. Completing Ramadan is a significant accomplishment, and Eid al-Fitr can acknowledge both the positive things that came from Ramadan and the return to a more normal daily routine
Muslims gather together in the morning of Eid as well, with the community coming together for a pre-dawn and post-dawn special prayer. With the day begun in community and reflection, families and friends then continue on to spend time together, celebrating the end of Ramadan with each other and sharing good food, often including many special foods and treats!
Eid al-Fitr in Wilsonville
While there are nearly 2 billion Muslim people across the world, nearly 25% of the world population, Oregon is home to a smaller percentage of Muslims, closer to 1% of the population. Such a small and closely connected community has led to some creative celebrating, such as an annual gathering of the Muslim community at Oaks Amusement Park in southeast Portland. Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated some changes, but instead of gathering, other creative solutions such as a virtual interfaith Iftar brought the community together.
Imran Haider, Wilsonville resident, provided the following thoughts:
“Growing up in Oregon, Eid was always an internal family celebrated holiday. It was known in our family and extremely small Muslim community throughout Portland of people my parents knew. We say a special prayer of thanks and appreciation the morning of Eid, first thing when you wake up (you also eat a date as a traditional way of ending the fasting month).
That day was typically filled with having close friends or family visit or going to someone's house for brunch or lunch. Typically parents give kids a small gift to signify the completion and reflection of a challenging month and add to a special day of celebration. Reflection and appreciation of what we have and take for granted every day are one of the main messages of Ramadan and Eid allows one to process that appreciation with everything in front of them that was not present during the daylight for the past month!”