*Eid: A Message of Sharing Happiness with Others*
*✍🏻Khaama Bakaf Muhammad Aadil Arariavi*
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Respected Readers, Ramadan is the month of blessings, forgiveness, and empathy. It is that blessed time in which a person not only tries to get closer to his Lord but also cultivates humanity, selflessness, and a sense of responsibility for others in his heart. The Eid-ul-Fitr that comes at the end of this month is actually a practical expression of these spiritual trainings. Eid is not just about celebrating happiness, but it is also a message of gratitude, sharing love, and including every member of society in the joys. Islam has not limited Eid to mere personal pleasure or outward celebration, but has declared it a day of social sympathy and mutual cooperation. That is why the payment of Sadaqah al-Fitr has been made obligatory before the Eid prayer so that the deprived and needy people of the society can also be equal participants in this day of happiness. So, the real spirit of Eid is that happiness should not be limited to one's own home but should reach the people around.
Unfortunately, in today's era, more attention is paid to outward glitter and personal comforts in the preparations for Eid, while its original message is often ignored. That is why there is a need for us to understand the real purpose and philosophy of Eid and try to include others in our joys. Keeping this fact in mind, it should always be remembered that Eid belongs to others as well as to us. Nowadays, in our society, every year on the occasion of Eid, almost everyone starts worrying about the preparations for Eid from the arrival of Ramadan, and some people even clean and paint their houses etc. before the arrival of the month of Ramadan, while many people make various preparations in the month of Ramadan to make their Eid better and better, and this is such a wave of Eid preparation that almost every person in every walk of life is affected by it. Therefore, even the cart vendors make full efforts for the preparation of Eid, and as the arrival of Eid approaches, this series of Eid preparation also intensifies, until this series reaches its peak on the night of Eid, and men are so engrossed in buying and selling in the markets and women are so engrossed in household chores that even the Fajr prayer of the blessed day of Eid is missed because of it, while some people somehow participate in the Eid prayer by rushing.
If this matter of Eid preparation was limited to the struggle for permissible things, there would not have been much cause for concern, although the Sharia does not like exaggeration and hyperbole even in permissible things, but the regrettable thing is that the scope of this struggle for Eid preparation has reached collecting wealth through various illegitimate means and illegitimate profiteering, countless forms of which are going on in various fields. Therefore, from hoarding to adulteration, reduction in measurement, forgery, undue profiteering, embezzlement, bribery, looting, theft, robbery, kidnapping, etc., the worst qualities increase record-breakingly for the purpose of Eid preparation, and everyone tries to prepare for their Eid properly and wholeheartedly by cutting the pocket or stomach of others. Then, with the money cut from the pocket or stomach of that other person, he prepares expensive clothes for himself and gets expensive shoes and prepares excellent and delicious food on the day of Eid and spends the blessed day of Eid with clothes and food obtained from such wealth, but also appears before Allah to offer the Eid prayer in the same clothes, and it is obvious that arranging Eid preparation in this way by illegitimate profiteering is such a preparation for Eid that there is no room for it in the Sharia of Islam in any way. In the Sharia of Islam, emphasis has been laid on taking special care of others and cooperating and helping others on the occasion of Eid, and there is wisdom in the virtue and importance of paying Sadaqah Fitr before the Eid prayer, so that other needy people can also be included in the joys of Eid, and for this reason, there is virtue in the abundance of charity on the day of Eid, and also an important wisdom of fasting is to make one feel the need of the hungry and thirsty and to create a sense of compassion in oneself.
It is not difficult to guess from these pure teachings and instructions of the Sharia that the blessed occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr teaches to fulfill the needs of others, to reduce suffering and pain, and to share happiness or to include others in the joys of Eid.
But here, these pure teachings of the Sharia are not adopted in the first place, and if they are adopted, they are adopted in a formal manner, and instead of including others in the joys of Eid, their real joys are robbed.
We should abandon this custom and understand the real spirit and philosophy of Eid and always keep in mind while preparing for our Eid that Eid belongs to others as well.
O Allah, Lord of the Worlds, accept our fasts, worships, and prayers, grant us the ability to understand the real joys of Eid and share them with others, create love, sympathy, and sincerity in our hearts, and protect us from every act that causes Your displeasure. Amen, O Lord of the Worlds.