Tonight, all Muslims in the US officially celebrate one of the major festivals in the Islamic calendar which happens to be Eid Fitri. I have no words to express how happy I am to join the Muslim community around the globe feting this huge event. Eid Fitr takes place in Syawal – the tenth month in the Islamic lunar calendar. Many Muslims are mistaken saying that Eid Fitri is just on the very first day of Syawal although the designated time for the festival in Islam is the whole month of Syawal. It doesn’t mean Muslims should keep celebrating the feast all month long without cautiously heeding on ridiculously over-the-limit expenses and extremely extravagant food. This kind of behaviors is not welcomed in Islamic ethics -akhlak- and defeating the purpose of Ramadhan trainings itself.
Muslims should really keep everything moderate and be grateful for having the opportunity to taste last Ramadhan that left us just yesterday. That is the true meaning of Syawal, which is celebrating a new better life that every Muslim achieves after practicing month-long drills of self-reflection, self-betterment, self redemption and Allah-searching. Like everyone else, I pray to Allah to save me from the hellfire since that is the ultimate goal after leaving Ramadhan.
Most of my Malaysian friends at Stevens are having a congregation to mark the month of Syawal some where on campus. Unfortunately in my case as a graduate student, I am currently swarmed by overflowing research journals and reading assignments on the very night of the first day of Syawal. Not to mention a class I have to attend at noon tomorrow. Believe me, it is no fun to dig in school work on the first day and night of Syawal. Yet, I will be optimistic about the situation. Like I said, the festival is a month long. So why I should go all out on the first night and day of the month when I still have the rest of month. Considering what is happen to me right now, I am not going to be that whiny and sad since a lot of my brothers and sisters in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and some other places who are not that lucky to even have a roof above their heads. Thanks to Allah for at least giving me this life and the comfort of my home.
Talking about being a new person after Ramadhan, most Muslims including me forget what Ramadhan has thought. We tend to go astray, forgetting the real essence of lessons we learnt during Ramadhan. So I guess everyone should set the dates for the 6 fasting days in Syawal as a continuation of what we have done in Ramadan. Since Ramadhan has prepared us so much, I hope we celebrate Eid Fitr like newborns and continue our redemption to God. Don’t let all the hard work and sweats in Ramadhan go away just because Ramadhan is not here anymore. On the contrary we should think Ramadhan as a training school for us to reach a whole new level of Allah-worshipping, public charity and becoming better caliphs on earth. Let’s continue bettering ourselves.
With the spirit of Syawal, I take this opportunity to apologize for all the wrong deeds I have done intentionally and unintentionally on any of you and please consider all the food and stuff I got from you with or without your knowledge as charity. May Allah bless us all. Happy Eid Fitr.
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