Eid in Pardes

Eid-ul-Adha ('festival of Sacrifice'), also known as the Greater Eid or Eid-e-qurba, is the second most important festival in the Muslim calendar.

The festival remembers the prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son when Allah(swt)ordered him to.

Much has been said and writtern on it.Not so far just six days ago  Muslims celebrated it all over the world as in Pakistan.But the main thing what i wanna share now is that some of our loved ones who live in abroad they really became sad on those occasions,specially the ones who live without thier families of paternal and maternal sides or mostly the ones who live without  their parents.Settled down in different countries after getting married or stying there for study purpose.What ever the reason,they have to stay away from thier families which they dont want to.

MY elder brother lives in London, doing his MBA so he has to celebrate Eid alone for some years and when he calls us on Eid day he  usually keep recalling his memories that how he use to celebrate his eid with us.He observed and prepared for Eid al-Adha in a number of ways,by starting  the festival with Namaz-e-Eid, helping the butcher to sacrifice a cow or a goat, keeping a portion to feed family and distributing the rest to relatives, friends and the needy.After this, having yummy " Kaleji" and many more dishes based on qurbqni meat.Yes the most important thing is BBQ with his friends.These all thing  make him nostalgic.He told  us that muslims live there Basically,get up in the morning, and everyone including all the women and children go to the mosque for Eid prayers. Then people come back home and get dressed in their Eid wear and go to other people's houses for lunch, where no one really gives anyone eidhi, people just mingle and eat...there is always lots of desserts and then they go home”.

The Asian communities living in West have their own Eid celebrations. In London, the infamous Green Street lights up to give the Asians in London a glance of the Eid in their own countries. Girls are again given a chance to enjoy their chaand raat shopping. Eid gatherings and shows are organised in almost all Asian communities, one of the major and most regular ones being in the heart of London – at the Trafalgar Square. Almost every city in Britain has a mosque for its Muslim community, where even women can gather on Eid, where children go to study the Quran, mosques in the West are more like a community centre, where all Muslims can gather to do their activities. They can distribute food there, talk to eat other about religion, and ofcourse say their prayers. For some people, the mosque is the only place where they actually get to wish Eid Mubarak to someone.
The best thing about celebrating Eid in a city like London,New York is that people from all countries are together there as Muslims. Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis, Arabs, all these people might be separated in the world geographically, but here they gather together to celebrate Eid, a festival that means the same to everyone, because they share the same religion.

 The main ritual of Eid ul Adha is sacrifice but Can we imagine any celebration without sacrificing a cow or a goat on Eid-ul-adha at home?certainly not at all but my brother told me that they are not allowed to slaughter an animal at home.There are slaughter houses for this purpose.Similarly one of my cousin lives in USA.She told the same thing.They only can hear about this but unable to participate in

all like we do in Pakistan.Even many Islamic countries including Saudia Arabia, animal's slaughtering at home is prohibited infact  they have strict laws and regulations regarding it. 

Besides this many other interesting things regarding Eid they miss alot.One of this is eastern girls favourite" applying mehndi".My cousin also told me that many girls of pakistani origin in USA know how to  apply hina with beautiful designs on hands and they would love to apply to it on Eid when any lady want to be applied.

 . But the life and happening of Eid celebrations like in Pakistan is a unique event not seen in any other part of the world. The lights, stalls, bangles, hinna, sacrificing animals cows and goats.Yummy meat dishes might seem regular stuff to local Pakistanis, but Pakistanis abroad miss these small things dearly, and realise their importance once they cannot enjoy them anymore.
 Eid is a speciality of Pakistan, which must be enjoyed, even in these troubling times, let us hope that the joy of Eid reduce the sadness of our dear country and for those spending their Eids out of Pakistan.I think that even you are with your friends on eid in pardes but if you are happy you can enjoy its festivity because Eid is all about happiness.