Eid-Ul-Fitr Traditions

After Ramadan , the monthof fasting its time to celebrate the occasion
of Eid-Ul-Fitr. The sighting of the crescent moon (hilal) on the 29th
day of Ramadan marks the beginning of Eid-ul-fitr and the end of
Ramadan month. Eid-ul-fitr means to break the fast,
for all the Muslims who had fasted Eid-ul-fitr is theoccasion of
triumph, happiness, joy and to celebrate.
Eid-Ul-Fitr Day
Early morning on the Eid day all the Muslims take bath and have their
breakfast of dates and sweets. All of them wear new clothes on this
occasion and visit mosque (masjid) to worship Allah. Special Eid Ul
Fitr prayer ceremony is carried out in open areas and sky. All
theMuslims recite Takbir given below before the Prayers:
Allahu akbr, allahu akbr la illaha ila Allah wa allahu akbr, allahu
akbr wa lillah hilhamd
Which means
God is Greatest, God is Greatest There is no deity but [the one] God
God is Greatest, God is Greatest And to him goes all praise
This reciting of the Takbir starts from the time when the crescent
moon is sighted and till the prayersare said. Muslims are supposed to
pay Zakat al Fitr that is the alms for theRamadan month. This is given
at the nearby mosque to start the Eid prayer and utilize it in the
best possible manner. Zakat al Fitr can be in formof money, eatables
like dates,wheat,barley,raisins etc.
Eid prayer is followed by the Khutba and finally the Dua asking for
forgiveness after which it is customaryto embrace the persons sitting
on your either side and all your near and dear one抯. Eid prayers are
very important apart from the five daily prayers and all the Muslims
are required to attend the special prayers in mosque.
Eid is the time for celebrations and all the Muslims celebrate this
occasion in their own ways. Females decorate and clean their houses,
notonly decorating the houses they themselves dress beautifully and
applyhenna (mehndi) on hands just like men wear new white clothes.
Females cook delicious food on Eid day, as there is a get together in
their houses. Children enjoy the most asthey get gifts and love from
all the relatives, as it is the day to exchange gifts. Muslims greet
each other by wishing Eid Mubarak, which means Happy Eid.

Eid-Ul-Fitr Recipes

Islam is the second popular religion in the world with a large
numberof followers. All those whoare followers of Islam are Muslims
and the most important festivals of Muslims are:
*. Ramadan
*. Eid-Ul-Fitr
*. Eid-Ul-Adha Eid-Ul-Fitr is the time to break the fast and have
delicious food. Eid-ul-fitr isthe time to celebrate and enjoy. Muslims
visit to mosque for special prayersand all the friends and relatives
have a small get together where all of them have Eid meal together to
built a feeling of unity among each otherand spread the happiness and
love all around. They greet each other by sayingEid Mubarak!
Eid-Ul-Fitr Food Items: The occasion of Eid-ul-fitr is incomplete
without the famous and known Eid-Ul-Fitr dishes, which Muslims cook on
the Eid day. Females cook all the Eid dishes in bulk as many friends
and relatives visit home on the Eid day to greet. All the females
decide the preparations and the menu for the Eid beforehand. Some of
the most famous and commonEid dishes made at all the Muslim houses
are:
*.
*. Murgh mussallam
*. Mrouziya
*. Nawabi biryani
*. Beef fajita salad
*. Beef stew
*. Tasty beef roast
*. Tabuli
*. Biryani
*. Mutton korma
*. Haleem
*. Lemon pepper steak
*.
Eid-Ul-Fitr Recipes:
Recipes of some of the famous Eid food items are given below:
Mrouziya
Ingredients 2 pounds of lamb chunks
2 cups of water
2 teaspoons Ras El Hanout
1/4cup of honey
1/4cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of whole blanchedalmonds, toasted
1/4 cup of raisins
How To Cook: Bring the oven temperature up to 345 degrees. Coat the
lamb with Ras El Hanout spice. Place spiced lamb in a 5-quart pot
covered witha lid. To the pot, add the water, honey and olive oil Bake
for about 2 hours until the meat softens. Remove the meat from the pot
and keep warm. Remove extra oil. To the pot, add the raisins. Boil
until the raisins are fully cooked. Return the lamp to the stew. Boil
for about 2 minutes. Decorate with the toasted almonds. Serve with
warm bread, orwith cooked Saffron rice, Raisins and Almonds.
Biryani
Ingredients 500 grams Basmati Rice
1kg Mutton (cut into small pieces)
2 tsp. Garam Masala.
6 Red chilies
7 Cashewnuts
Onions. (Chopped)
5 Lavang (Cloves)
2 Dalchini (Cinnamon Sticks)
2 pieces of Elaichi (Cardamom)
3 Green chilies (add more according to your taste)
6 Kothmir (chopped Fresh coriander)
1 small bunch Pudina chopped
Ginger Garlic paste
3 tsp. Saffron. (Dissolved in� cup milk)
beaten curd one cup
Juice of 2 Limes, 4 boiled eggs, Ghee /Oil 5 tbsp.
Salt.
How To Cook: Grind the chilies and Cashewnuts. Mix the mutton pieces
with the ginger-garlic paste and beaten curd andKeep aside. Heat four
tablespoons ghee or oil and fry the chili paste. To this add the
mutton, � of the fried onion, 1tsp garam masala and salt to taste. As
the ghee separates from the mixture, add one and a half cups warm
water and pressure cook till softens. Take a wide vessel, fry the
whole spices in 1 tbsp. ghee/oil. Add the rice and fry a little, add
green chilies and salt to taste and enough water for the rice to cook.
When the riceis cooked, spread it on a plate and remove the spices
(sabut masala). Make a Pudina mixture of the chopped Kothmir, Pudina,
garam masala andfried onion and keep aside.Take another wide vessel
(thick bottom) and line it with ghee, spread a layer of rice in it and
cover it with half the mutton. Spread half of the Pudina mixture and
juice of a lime. Put a layer of rice followed by a mutton layer and
finish with a final layer of rice. Spread the rice with saffron milk
and some ghee. Cover tightly and cook for twenty minutes over slow
fire. Start serving hot.
Among the famous Eid deserts the two known dishes are given below:
*. Seviyan
*. Sheer Korma
Recipes of The Famous Eid Deserts:
Recipe for some of the famous Eid Deserts is given below:
Seviyan
Ingredients
2 Cups of milk
2 tbsp. Of Rice
3 tbsp. Of Sugar
1/4th Cup of blanched almonds (sliced) <
1 tsp. Of Green cardamom (crushed)
1/2 tsp of Kewra essence
Silver or gold foil paper (varak)
How To Cook:
Soak rice in water for few hours, after removing water, grind rice
into a smooth paste. In a non-stick saucepan bring milk. Over a
moderate lowheat add rice, sugar and cardamom and stir constantly till
milk turns thick. Now add almonds and put in serving bowl and chill.
Garnish with silver or gold foil paper (varak) and serve.

Eid-Ul-Fitr Prayer Ceremony

Eid-ul-fitr is one of the most important festivals of Muslims. Just
after the Ramadan, Muslims celebrate Eid-ul-fitr. All thepreparations
are done before hand for the occasion. Eid-ul-fitr prayer is the
integral part of Eid, which is worth mentioning.
Muslims wear new clothes early in the morning on this day. According
to the practices followed by the prophet Muhammad of conducting Eid
Prayers in open grounds therefore Eid prayers are carried in open sky.
All the Muslims visit Mosque (masjid) in the morning on this day and
recite the Takbir 揳llahu Akbar, allahu Akbar� meaning Allah is great
justbefore the prayer ceremony.
Once the Eid Ul fitr moon issighted the preparations for Eid Ul fitr
Celebrations begins.Soon after the Eid Prayer khutba or Islamic cermon
is delivered. The person reciting the Khutbais the lead of the prayer
and is called the khateeb.anyone can recite the Khutba provided that
he is male along with physical and mental purity.
Attending Khutba is not obligatory as attending the Eid prayer is
obligatoryfor all the male Muslims. Prophet also commanded all the
women to attend the prayers too. A Muslim can leave the Khutba
whenever he wishes to but not the prayer.
After khutba follows the Eid Dua. Large masses of Muslims assemble in
the mosque for the Eid Prayer ceremonies. The rush can be noticed
outside the mosque on the Eid day. Some people carry bags tokeep their
footwear抯 safe and one must carry musallas or sheets to sit on the Eid
prayer ground to pray.
After Eid-Ul-Fitr Prayer
Eid-Ul-Fitr is the festival to spread happiness and loveamong all the
relatives and near and dear one抯. After the prayer on this day there
is a get togetherat all the Muslims houses where all their near and
dear one抯 accompany them in the Eid meals. Muslims wish each other Eid
Mubarak that means Happy Eid. All the children receive gifts as a
token of love from all their relativesas Eid is the day to exchange
gifts among each other. The entire is day is marked with the triumph
and happiness spread all around and adding to the occasion of
Eid-Ul-Fitr.

Eid-Ul-Fitr Moon Spotting

Muslims follow lunar calendar and not solar calendar. In lunar
calendar the year is 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar year. So one
cannot say if the days and dates of Eid-Ul-Fitr for the year 2008
would be similar to that of the year 2007.
Eid-Ul-Fitr Beginning
The beginning of the Ramadan , ninth month of Islamic calendar is also
decided by the sighting of the Crescent moon (hilal) This Sighting of
the hilal marks the beginning of the Ramadan. If hilal is seen at
night then the next day is the first day of Ramadan and fasting.
On the similar lines when the hilal is visible again at the end of the
month, it is the time to celebrate Eid-Ul-Fitr (break the fast). When
the hilal is sighted the beginning of the new month Shawwal, the
tenthmonth of Islamic calendar and the time to celebrate Eid-ul-fitr.
Eid-Ul-Fitr Moon SightingTips
Visibility of the crescent moon can be affected by a number of factors
and so itis recommended that number of observers should be involved to
sight a correct Crescent moon specially in cases where naked eyes are
used to detect the Eid moon. Factors affecting the sighting of the
crescent moon:
Distance of the moon fromthe Earth.
Local or geographical conditions (the height of the observer above sea level).
Character of the surrounding surface and the height of the horizon
relative to the observer.
Variations in the clarity of the atmosphere and wind direction..
Quality of eyesight of the observer.
Modified Ways Of Eid-Ul-Fitr Moon Sighting
Concept of international lunar date line (ILDL) has been developed by
Professor Ilyas in Malayia. ILDL forms a curved line on a world map,
which separates areas (west of line) where there are greater chances
of sightingmoon in the beginning of the lunar month along with the
areas where the crescent moon is likely to be seen (east of line). The
position of ILDL changes from month to month.
On the similar lines Dr.Monzur Ahmed has developed a computer program
called Mooncalc, which makes use of ILDL and creates world map to show
where the crescent is likely to be seen for the first time. The
position, age, phase, orientation, appearance and visibility of the
moon for any date, time and location on earthcan be find out making
theuse of ILDL.