‘Make a little sacrifice to make someone smile’

FEATURE

AS SALAAM WA ALAIKUM and EID MUBARAK to Muslims worldwide.

With Diwali just passing and Christmas around the corner, 1.6 billion followers of Islam celebrate their biggest religious festival ‘Eid ul Adha’ (Festival of Sacrifice). DILLY HUSSAIN tells us more ...

Three days of family joy and communal warmth began on Friday when ten million pilgrims completed the ten days of Hajj (one of the obligatory pillars of Islam) in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

The historical roots behind Eid ul Adha relates to the ‘readiness’ of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) to please God.

God was satisfied with the steadfastness of Ibrahim and he was commanded to sacrifice a lamb instead.

This ritual is called ‘Al-Qurbani’ and is performed by Muslims in other countries from Morocco to Indonesia. Those financially able to do so will sacrifice a goat, sheep, cow or camel and distribute the meat to the poor. So what is Eid ul Adha for Bedfordians? It starts with ‘Salaat ul Eid’ (Eid prayer) in the morning around 9am at the town’s four mosques.

There is a second sitting at 10am for those who didn’t get up on time or were too occupied the night before looking for their finest ‘thobe’ or ‘shalwar kameez’ (Islamic/Asian garment).

When the prayers are done, the scenes of Muslims hugging each other three times with the greeting ‘Eid Mubarak’ outside the mosque can be witnessed.

Anyone who you have begrudged is also embraced as there is no excuse to hold a fellow Muslim in contempt on this day.

When arriving home, family members are greeted, followed by ‘loud’ phone calls (due to the bad signal) to relatives ‘back home’.

Once the greetings and overseas conversations are done, the eating begins! Mothers’ and sisters’ immaculately prepared food is feasted on and your bellies are bursting by midday.

If you have a big family or social network, the ‘rounds’ to each other’s houses leads to a much enjoyed catastrophe taking place in your stomach! Samosas, pakoras, kebabs and spring rolls are merely the starters before diving into the roast chicken, rice and curries!

Honestly by 2pm you are tapping out but the irresistible enforcement by aunts and friends’ mums to have a ‘little bit of everything’ (everything comprising of about 20 dishes) makes most of us continue eating.

Children stack up presents and money after winning the hearts of elders with their innocent smiles, indeed a smart financial strategy! Around the town centre, the Embankment and Cineworld, children in their new clothes roam the town together celebrating in their own youthful ways.

Those slightly older like myself will meet up with friends in the evening after the visiting and feasting is over. If my friends have not hired a BMW, Mercedes or something flash, they will definitely have borrowed a ‘head turning car’ from a family member.

Whether our destination be Luton, Birmingham, London, Nottingham or Manchester, we surprise ‘out of town’ cousins and friends with our spontaneous presence.

In the midst of all this happiness and joy, it is always at the back of my mind how lucky I am to have friends, family, new clothes and variety of foods at my disposal. I think about the millions who survive on less than 50p a day and cannot have a clean glass of water let alone garments and a menu of dishes.

I pray for the Muslims who are living in war torn countries who don’t have basic necessities while their leaders reside in palaces funded by their nation’s resources.

So my message to Muslims and non-Muslims alike is appreciate what you have, be grateful to those who are ‘giving’ and do not hesitate to make a little sacrifice to make someone smile.