Islamic Holidays for Everyone

Welcome back to Chapters of Sunnah! Here we spend time, learning, researching, and occasionally debating issues of Apologetics, Faith & Religion. In this post we are going to be looking at the major Islamic Holidays, just so we can give an overview for people who are not familiar with them. For example, have you ever wondered what Eid al-Fitr is all about?

In this post, lets focus on the two main Islamic holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. We will try to explain the context of each holiday, and then we will go further in depth into the meaning and significance, traditions and openness of each individually. I thought that now would be a good time as we are near enough in the middle of both holidays.

Eid al-Fitr

Eid al-Fitr is the first of the two major holidays celebrated within Islam, This holiday celebrated the end of a month-long fast (Dawn to Sunset) during the month of Ramadan in the Islamic calendar. This event occurs on the 1st day of Shawwal in the Islamic calendar, however this does not always fall on the same day, and is actually based on the sighting of the New Moon. This holiday is known by other names such as “Lesser Eid” or just “Eid”.

There is a specific prayer that is done on the day of Eid al-Fitr, which is normally done in the morning in a large congregation and will feature more Takbirs than usual. After the morning prayer Muslims head out to celebrate Eid with various types of food and drinks.

None Muslims are welcome to join in with the celebrations and will find that they may get invited for food from members of the community. Please be aware, you should avoid debating/arguing over religious views and dress modestly. Different Muslim groups may have other standards, however its safest to just dress as modest as you can. For men, this would entail, trousers/jeans (avoid shorts) as the Islamic ruling says that knees should be covered. Your top can be a t-shirt, shirt, hoodie or anything that covers the majority of your upper body, as long as there are no offensive words on the front/back. For women, a long dress or jeans with a longer top/cardigan/jumper, no open décolleté and if you can, it would be respectful to cover the hair.

Eid al-Adha

Eid al-Adha is the second of the two major holidays celebrated within Islam, during this holiday we remember the sacrifice made by the prophet Ibrahim (AS) “Abraham” and his willingness to sacrifice his own son as an act of obedience to the command of Allah “God”. The basic outline of the story is that Ibrahim (AS) goes to sacrifice his son, however before he can sacrifice his son, because of his willingness, Allah (God) provides a lamb, to sacrifice in his sons place. In commemoration of this event, during the holiday of Eid al-Adha animals such as lambs are sacrificed. Typically the meat of the animal is divided into three portions, the Family/Friends & Relatives/Poor & Needy. Sweets and gifts are also given during this holiday and typically Friends & Family members visit each other. This day is sometimes referred to as Greater Eid and falls on the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijja in the Islamic Calendar and lasts for 4 days.

If you are a non-Muslim and you are invited to a Eid al-Adha celebration, please remember to be respectful, wear appropriate clothing and don’t be afraid to ask questions. however as before, you should avoid debating/arguing over religious views and dress modestly.

If you have further questions about Islamic, holidays or would like us to a do a more in-depth discussion, please leave a comment and and let us know. we hope you enjoyed this short post and please don’t forget to check out our YouTube Page.