With Eid al-Fitr coming nigh, the impending celebrations under the shadow of pandemic ought to be insipid this time. Muslims across the world are getting used to the idea that this year’s celebration will be what probably history has never seen! An Eid marked with no Eid-prayer, disrupted social lives, and less gastronomical delights.
But is this all? How about being optimistic, and viewing it through the prism of philanthropy? Even from this perspective too, this year Eid celebration will be what probably history has never seen – less feeding of stomach, and more feeding of souls!
Campaigns are being run on social media through flyers, posts and videos vowing against splurging on Eid this time, and donating the sum to the poor and needy who are brought to the brink due to COVID lockdown.
A flyer doing rounds reads, “Due to ongoing lockdown of COVID-19, most of our brothers and sisters are facing a huge scarcity in their businesses. Let’s help them to overcome from this scarcity. Moreover, please save money and realise that in future we need money for medicines, food and educational needs. Let’s start a creative awareness in the community. Help the needy, Say No to Eid shopping.”
Endorsing the campaign, Nawab Najaf Ali Khan belonging to the Nizam family of Hyderabad says, “As Eid al-Fitr is approaching, let’s pledge to exclude our materialism and gloating and be mindful of the underprivileged around us. The poor and needy are left to fend for themselves without a job as everything is shut down. Let’s say no to excessive and unnecessary shopping for Eid.
“We see people starving and dying. The money that we spend on our extravagance can be used to help a family survive and live without this fearful uncertainty.”
Eminent religious scholar Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani urges all men, women and children to “Wear the best clothes and not new clothes. Celebrate the Eid with simplicity and help the needy.” He said Muslims should not go to markets for Eid shopping as this may lead to violation of social distancing norms and result in the spread of the disease. “Your health and the health of your near and dear ones should be more important than new clothes,” he says. The religious scholar tells Muslims should also give no opportunity to certain communal elements who are trying to spread the hatred even during the times of pandemic.
Er Shamim Ahmad, who is a Mumbai-based activist, writes, “We urge every sensible and sane person to spend every penny with utmost care. Save, save and save to save yourself and the people around you. The money that you save may give life to your relatives, and your next-door neighbours. Mind you, your Eid is also for the pleasure of Allah, as was your fasting. What is going to please your Lord more, your new clothes, your new shoes, your lavish spending on Eid gifts, or your packet of food to your neighbour?”
He vehemently shakes our conscience and asks, “Think for a moment! What are you going to celebrate? You are not praying in the mosque for more than a month? Not offering even Jumu’ah prayer in the masjid? No Taraweeh in masjid. Not even the Eid itself is going to be as it should be.”
“This Eid will be different in a lot of ways. We can’t fly to my husband’s hometown unlike every other Eid. So, I won’t be spending time in displaying my culinary skills to the most or assisting my mother-in-law while she is preparing the dishes. We won’t be seeing and attending and feeding guests all day,” Zaira Bano Kabir, a resident of Delhi, happily responds. “This Eid, I will prepare less items, and I can focus more on religious aspect of Eid, an act of ibadah by feeding and clothing the less fortunate ones In sha Allah. I am really thankful to Allah for this kind of one Eid,” she thanks Allah for a different Eid this year.
Aniqa Saud, Assistant Professor in Sanskar Educational Group, prays for better situations, “I am celebrating Eid with my family confined in home this year, but I pray for better situations to relieve us from this pandemic. However, I have no shopping plans, not even online in solidarity with the poor and desperate conditions they have been reduced too. May Allah accept it from all of us.”
“This Eid is a realisation dawned upon us to count the innumerable favours of Allah, so that we can understand the fine demarcation line between necessities and luxury. To be honest, the shutdown hasn’t impacted the middle or upper-middle class much. Though earlier also there were people serving the underclass in the month of Ramadan, this time the overwhelming and aggressive philanthropy of Muslims is something that has risen out of this difficult situation,” says Maria Shamsi, an architect and Healthcare Planner based in Delhi.
“Knowingly or unknowingly, Muslims are reviving the long forgotten sunnah of Prophet Muhammad this Eid by prioritising the poor and needy over their own-self, taking care of their needs and wants,” she provides an optimistic picture of the whole situation.
Time might be different and not according to what many have wished to see, but it’s a time to ponder on the favours of Allah upon us. A time to be better Muslims by not being stingy and selfish; a time to think about others, our less fortunate relatives and friends, the impoverished ones – the daily wagers, maids, etc. – and make it a day of celebration and joy for them too.