Abu Dhabi and Dubai: For Almas Naseem, Eid is the blessed culmination of 30 days of fasting and working on one’s spirituality. And, despite changes in family structures and activities over the last decade, Naseem believes the spirituality and joy of Eid remain untarnished.
“As a young child in India, Eid celebrations were centred on family and neighbours. After the menfolk had returned from Eid prayers, we would settle down for a rich breakfast of savoury vegetarian pancakes, homemade roti and sheer khorma [a milk and vermicelli-based dessert],” the communications specialist and mother-of-three from India said.
Afterwards, children would wear new clothes and get together in groups and ask for cash gifts, known popularly as Eidiya.
“Meanwhile, my mother would prepare huge baskets of homemade delicacies and distribute them among our neighbours,” she recalls.
Today, her family’s festivities in the UAE are just as enjoyable.
“Even if people’s perceptions of Eid have become more materialistic, our family still derives much joy in spending the day with one another. My husband and I are blessed to have dozens of relatives living in the UAE, and we all get together at someone’s house, or plan an outing,” Naseem said.
Of course, certain traditions have changed or been replaced with others.
“For example, my mother would spend a lot of her time preparing grand meals. Today, we often go out for lunch. Or, when all our relatives meet, there are so many people that it is impossible to prepare that much food. So we tend to order in,” she explained.
As for gifts, Naseem has maintained a custom of her own.
“We place the gift next to our children as they sleep so that they wake up to it. Of course, now that my two older children are grown up, they prefer cash gifts,” she said.
Eid may now be a more expensive affair, with higher standards of living and a concerted focus on shopping, but it still remains a day of joy, Naseem said.
“I head to the family home so we can celebrate Eid together” - Mohammad Hassan Abdullah, from the UAE
Families who are committed to celebrating Eid in its true sense will find that the festivities are just as exciting today as they were in the past, Mohammad Hassan Abdullah believes. The Emirati father of two and his family look forward to the festivities each year, and although he lives in Abu Dhabi, he makes it a point to travel to his family home in Ras Al Khaimah for Eid.
“I am the eldest among my siblings and it is my responsibility to gather the rest of the family. So I head to the family home so we can celebrate Eid together,” Abdullah, 34, said.
Eid typically starts with the morning prayers even today, although Abdullah says it is harder to wake the children up.
“When we were young, we would be in bed by 9pm in anticipation of the next day. There were no smartphones and game consoles to keep us up. Today, children sleep later so the early morning prayers can be a little hard to get to. But I feel that it is essential to wake up early on Eid to truly enjoy oneself,” he said.
That said, children still feel the same excitement for new clothes and gifts.
“Yes, the gifts today, whether Eidiya or gifts in kind, are more expensive. But that is a given. After all, each generation tries to better the experience for their children.”
Abdullah says that nowadays, he is aware that some families tend to sleep in on Eid mornings. Others prefer to take a trip and celebrate Eid abroad. But what truly spoils Eid, according to him, are people who stay connected to their work through their smartphones.
“These are changes we notice in our culture, but I believe it is up to every family to ensure that they do not take away from Eid as a celebration,” he said.
”In my family, Eid is a very important holiday” - Amily Farraj, from Palestine
While many seem to celebrate Eid the modern way, 20 year-old Amily Farraj said her family cherishes the Islamic celebration’s traditions and rituals.
”In my family, Eid is a very important holiday, and it’s probably one of the only times in the year where every member of the family is gathered in the same house.”
Despite some fading traditions in the community, Emilay said she she likes to wake up early and head to the mosque with her family to attend the Eid prayers. “We usually come back from the mosque and enjoy breakfast together as a family before we have other relatives over.”
Amily, a student, said she has been following the same Eid rituals such as buying new clothes, receiving Eid money, and visiting family and friends at home since she was a child. She pointed out that Eid is dedicated to family, and is a good opportunity to spend some quality time with aunts, uncles and cousins whom she does not see very often. Unlike her family’s cultural approach to celebrating Eid, the hectic modern lifestyle have affected many people who no longer think of family as a priority during the holiday celebrations, she said.
“I know plenty of people who, as they have grown older, seem to think that friends have a bigger role than family and because they are more independent and have more say in what they do during Eid, they don’t usually choose to follow the formal rituals of Eid or be as active as they should be.”
Amily, who attends the American University of Sharjah, said she is excited to be going home to Kuwait to celebrate Eid with her family, relatives and friends.
“Eid more of a routine than a celebration”- Mohammed Ali Al Husain, from Saudi Arabia
Traditions and customs are practiced every Eid at the Al Husain Household.
For 22 year-old Mohammad Ali Al Husain from Saudi Arabia, Eid is not as exciting as it used to be when he was a child. Every Eid, his family and relatives gather to enjoy the Eid lunch, which usually includes a dish of lamb and rice before spending the whole evening together.
“We always go for the Eid prayers, then we get our eideya (Eid money)- and of course, wearing a new kandoora is a must,” he said.
Home visits to his relatives and friends’ houses is also a a part of the Eid traditions. Pointing out that the holiday is all about spending some quality time with the family, Al Husain said he no longer anticipates Eid like he used to many years ago. “We used to give Eid a lot more attention and we also used to enjoy it more - now it’s about rituals that we have to follow and feels more like a routine than a celebration.”
Despite the modern lifestyle many choose to live by, Al Husain said Eid traditions in his family will remain more or less the same over the years. He explained that the reason many are not as excited about Eid as they used to be is because they are distracted with matters such as work.
“People are either too busy or preoccupied with other things to really feel and celebrate Eid properly.”
Al Husain, is a university student in Sharjah, has travelled home to Saudi Arabia to celebrate the holidays with his family. “I am very glad and blessed to be here with my family for Eid, it wouldn’t feel the same anywhere else.”
“Travelling out during Eid instead of spending it with family becomes the norm” Khalifa Al Qamzi, Emirati
Eid is definitely changing for Khalifa Al Qamzi and his family, who have been spending the festive holiday traveling instead of visiting extended family.
“Eid used to be about visiting extended families and neighbours and eating traditional sweats but for the past couple of Eids it hasn’t been that way. My family and I have been traveling so it does not really feel like Eid anymore.”
Al Qamzi said his family have been choosing to spend time abroad to avoid the Eid crowds in malls and over population in general of visitors choosing to celebrate it here in Dubai.
“It has become unbearable. The country is crowded because of the increase in population of people coming to the country during the holidays. So what we started doing is visiting family and celebrating a couple of days before Eid and traveling during the festive holiday.”
He said he would also call his extended family to congratulate them on the actual Eid from the country they are visiting.”
Another evident change, he said, is that in the past, people used to meet in person to congratulate each other on the arrival of Eid while today, they do it through social media and text messages.
“Technology plays a big role in the change. Children now might not feel for Eid as much as the generation before them did because they just sit in front of an IPad instead of playing with cousins and friends.”
This Eid, he plans going on a cruise ship from the UK, on a route passing through Scandinavian countries and ending in Russia.
“I do look forward to Eid but I don’t feel the Eid spirit anymore.”
“Happiness is what you create at home with your memories and tradition.” — Misbah Atiq, from Pakistan
Misbah Atiq has very fond memories of Eid celebrations in her hometown, Lahore, as a child. “Eid was a very colourful festival for us. It was a time of great liveliness, mirth and joy as our entire family of six uncles and three aunts and their families got together. We all lived in a cul de sac of a neighbourhood and my father was the eldest brother. So, the entire family would converge on our home for the celebrations. My mother would wait for the official announcement of Eid and would get busy making sheer khorma. This is a must for Eid and she would make it in huge quantities so that everyone who came to our home to greet us on the festive occasion was served this dessert.
“My grandmother would insist that all the grandchildren who came to get their Eidiya from her, were traditionally dressed in silk ensembles trimmed with brocade and zari and the girls have at least a dozen glass bangles on their wrists. Even today, I have always tried to recreate the traditions and the joy I experienced for my two children – son Shahmir, 12, and daughter Tannir, 10.
“I feel that a lot has changed in our lives now. Many of us only observe the events without really celebrating it with traditions. This is my third Ramadan in Dubai and even when we get invites for iftar, I see these are usually in a restaurant and it is usually a dinner. When I was a kid, we often got invited to the homes of our cousins for iftar. This usually meant praying together and ending the fast with home-cooked food. Today the occasion has changed into being too formal. Since Dubai is so close to Pakistan, many of our close friends are going home for Eid and that makes a difference to our get-togethers too.
“Prior to coming here, we were in Lewry, UK. My husband, Atiq Hussain Naqvi, who is a general surgeon, loves to uphold traditions. We were a close-knit group of about 10-12 families from Pakistan and would make it a point to meet at a mosque close by during Eid. We would arrange a sumptuous Eid lunch and also make sure the celebrations lasted for three days and were as colourful as back home.
“Every Eid I try to recreate the celebrations from my childhood for my children. I start my grocery shopping a week before and take my daughter with me so that she knows the things we need to make for the special lunch. I want to create a memory of a festival in their minds so that they can look back and remember.
“My family still prepares for the Eid in the same manner” - Samer Abu Sneineh, 33, Canadian Jordanian
“I was born in the UAE, and lived most of my life in this country. For almost three decades, I have been celebrating Eid here with family and friends. During that period, many features of celebrating Eid have remained the same, while others have changed.
“From the time I was a little boy up to this moment, my family still prepares for the Eid in the same manner. Preparations such as getting the house ready to welcome family and guests, making sure we stock up on dates, sweets and other food products that are traditionally served in Eid, getting enough cash to gift the small kids in the family and getting new clothes for the children, all remain the same. The rise in prices over the years has never affected preparations, as it’s essential in our culture to be generous to our guests and welcome them to our home in the best way possible,” he said.
Another aspect of Eid that has not changed much, he said, is that people still wake up early on Eid to have breakfast together as a family and later go for the Eid prayers. “After that is the usual gathering of family that moves from house to house to congratulate other family members and friends on this joyful event. At the end of the day, most of the family gathers in one place, usually at the house of a family member and have lunch together. Usually, it is a traditional homemade food and sweets.
“What I have realised in the past 10 years, is that after the first six to eight hours of the first day of Eid, life goes back to normal. I believe that due to our hectic lifestyles, people do not have the energy anymore to do more than that. They take advantage of the Eid holiday to relax and recharge their batteries to be ready to go back to work after the holidays. They also use this time to go on a mini vacation.”
“Many Eid rituals have been replaced with modern practices due to changing lifestyles” - Mohammad Ali, 23, from Lebanon
Single and living in Dubai for one year and a half, he said, “There is a big difference between Eid back home and here because I am living by myself. I celebrate it only with friends, I have one sister here and I visit her on the early morning of the first day of Eid as per our traditions that give priority to family members.
“My mother always makes special cookies and sweets for us and to offer for relatives and guests who visit us during the Eid. In Dubai, I buy fast food and Eid sweets from shops and do not bother to buy Eid cloths as I used to do in Lebanon.
“I celebrate Eid in Dubai by visiting my friends and that is it. Nothing more for me to do here. I believe many Eid rituals have been replaced with modern practices due to changing lifestyles and pressure of work,” said Ali.
“Also, Eid celebrations have become much more expensive than than when I was a little boy.”
"For me, Eid in Dubai is special and has its own appeal” - Nilofar Shaheen, 28, from Iran
Nilofr livesalone in Dubai and despite being away from her family, she enjoys catching up with her friends of various nationalities to celebrate Eid in her own way. “Back home, Eid Al Fitr celebrations are totally different from the way I observe them here,” she said. “For me, Eid in Dubai is special and has its own appeal. Since I live alone, I celebrate here in my own way by incorporating traditional and modern practice. I go with my friends to cinemas, shopping malls and restaurants.
“Back home, my family begins to prepare for Eid in the last week of Ramadan as my mother starts to make special food dishes and sweets for this special occasion. On the day of the celebration, my family gets up early and attends special prayers held only for the occasion in big mosques, large open areas, stadiums or arenas where thousands of people can gather.
“The festivities and merriment start after the prayers with visits to the homes of friends and relatives and thanking Allah Almighty for all blessings. Special sweets and special meal are prepared and shared with family and relatives.
“For Iranians, Eid is an opportunity to come together as a community and to renew friendship and family ties. It is also a time for peace for all Muslims in the world to devote to prayers and work towards mutual well-being.”
By Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhury, Senior Reporter; Noor Nazzal, Jumana Khamis, Samihah Zaman, Staff Reporters and Nawal Al Ramahi, Special to Gulf News
(Nawal Al Ramahi is a trainee with Gulf News).
