As 30 days of fasting ends, Muslims around the world celebrate the festival of Eid to thank Allah for the strength He gave them to accomplish the task of fasting. After performing two essential rituals first Sadqa-e-fitr and second Eid Namaz Muslims across the world celebrated the day according to their customs and traditions. Different countries have different ways of Eid celebrations. Here is a brief description of Eid festival across the world.
China:
Muslim population in China was estimated as 20.32 million in 2012. The two provinces of Ninxia and Xinjiang have the three days of holiday for the Muslims. In provinces, which do not have Muslim population in majority, they give official holiday of one day to the Muslim population.
The Eid celebration in china is marked with large-scale prayer at local mosques, family reunions, and feasts of breads, sweet pastries, meat, and dried and fresh fruit. The Yuan province of china has good number of Muslim population and they are scattered in the entire region of the province. After offering the Morning Prayer, they go to the grave of Sayyid Ajjal grave and clean the tomb.
To celebrate the festival of Eid in some places, the mosques are decorated with colourful lights and large welcome banners. To make the day memorable many young people choose to get married during the festival. people go outside with their families and friends to enjoy recreational activities such as watching the lion dance, walking on stilts, singing local songs, performing martial arts, wrestling, playing poker and visiting city parks.
Chinese Muslims celebrate the Eid day with a special dish known as YouXiang (oil fragrance). It is a simple fried, flour-based snack served with soup or rice. Before preparing the yoxiang it is important for the family to take bath and then a particular kind of incense needs to be lighted up throughout the whole preparation and cooking process.
YouXiang is packed as a pair in a bag to distribute to friends, relatives or other people who share the same custom. The number of Youxiang always needs to be even. Moreover, when eating Youxiang, it needs to be torn or chopped into small pieces first, (normally around 4 pieces), it can never be eaten as a whole, which can be seen as a sign of very bad manner.
Saudi Arabia:
The festival of Eid in Saudi Arabia is a beautiful combination of tradition, hospitality, and generosity. Eid-ul-Fitr begins with a small morning meal and quiet prayers, and continues with larger feasts and livelier celebrations among family and friends. In Saudi Arabia, it is traditional for families to meet at the parental home after Eid prayers.
Children get colourful decorated gift boxes and bags containing candies, chocolates, and toys from their elders. Shops and malls offer gifts on purchase of Eid items. It is a custom to leave large bags of food items on needy and stranger's doorsteps to share the Eid happiness.
In some regions in the central of Saudi Arabia, for example, in Al Qassim, it's a frequent tradition that at the Eid's morning and subsequent to the Eid prayer natives will put huge rugs on one of lanes of their locality and every household will organize a large serving of food where all neighbors will share foods, it's also a general practice that citizens will exchange places to endeavor more than one type of meal.
Mugalgal, jereesh and ghuraibah biscuits are special dishes to celebrate Eid day. Mugalgal contains chopped lamb meat, fresh tomatoes, onions and green pepper fried together with spices. Jareesh is an Arab dish of boiled, cracked, or coarsely ground wheat, mixed with meat.
Saudi people have sophisticated taste of sweets and desserts. Three days prior to Eid a special sweet dish known as "Debyazah" is made for breakfast. The sweet dish is made of fresh nuts, including almonds, pistachios and pine nuts. Dried fruits are also added, including figs, apricots, dates and raisins. Once ready, thick apricot nectar should be poured into a large pot and warmed until it boils. The result is a sweet, orange-colored soup - best served warm.
A small short bread known as Maamoul is also a part of festive Eid table. The main ingredients are semolina, pistachio, dates and walnuts.
Indonesia:
Lebaran is the popular name for Eid-ul-Fitr in Indonesia and is one of the major national holidays in the country. There are several traditions which usually done by every Muslim in Indonesia. First tradition is do Mudik. This is a term for Indonesian people where they are coming back to their home city and going to their parent's home. Second tradition is to do Takber both in rural and urban areas. Takbeer is mark for celebrate the day of victory after do fasting for 30 days. Then, as a tradition, people usually do takbeer by using vehicles, or only walking around together with people while shouting "Allahu Akbar."
Variety of delicious foods is made to enjoy the festival of Eid, rendang (meat with special seasoning ala Indonesia), opor ayam (chicken that is cooked with coconut milk), sambal ati (heart of chicken combines with chilly and potato), are popular savory dishes, delicious sounding thousand layered spice cake is also a popular dish to celebrate the end of Ramazan. Known as lapis legit, each layer is made from poured and broiled batter, before being assembled into the finished product.
Traditionally, most people ask for forgiveness they done in almost one year. Thus, Eid or lebaran is symbol of sharing forgiveness and all sins we have done are erased.
Turkey:
Muslims in Turkey, alongside Muslim populations around the world, celebrates the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr with enthusiasm and fervor. Eid-ul-Fitr is called as both Ramazan Bayrami ("Ramadan Bayram") and Seker Bayrami ("Bayram of Sweets"). It is traditional for people to address one another with "Bayraminiz mübarek olsun" ("May your Bayram be blessed")or "Bayraminiz kutlu olsun" ("May your Bayram be blessed"). Mutlu Bayramlar ("Happy Bayram").
After performing Eid prayers, people usually offered fatiha to their deceased relatives at graveyards. Big, temporary market of flowers, prayer books and water (for watering the plants adorning a grave), are set up for the three-day time near graveyards.
It is a tradition to kiss the hands of elderly people and touching it on one's forehead at the same time wishing them Bayram good wishes. It is also traditional for young kids to visit neighborhood, gate to gate, and wish everybody a joyful Bayram, for which they are rewarded chocolates, sweets such as traditional Turkish delight and baklava, candy, or a small amount of cash at every door.
In some mosque in Istanbul, kids are offered bags full of biscuits, toys and toffees while soups are distributed to adult worshipers. "Turkish delight," lokum is a favorite sweet of Eid in Turkey. This gel-like dessert is a combination of starch, sugar, and other fillings like dates, pistachios, and walnuts and come in many different colours.
Tunisia:
For the Muslims of this country Eid is a time for fellowship, socialization, and good wishes. They start preparing for the celebration from several days before Eid. Bakers make biscuits, and sweets like baklava and ka'ak, fried almond pastries, makroudh (semolina cake) that people can give to their guest as a gift of Eid.
All men proceed to the Mosque in the morning while women stay behind to prepare for the grand lunch. Some women also accompany them to Mosque. The first meal varies by region. In the southern town of Tozeur, people usually make ful medames, which consists of cooked beans served with olive oil and spices. chermoula, a salty fish cooked with an onion and raisin marinade, making it both salty and sweet.
The salty taste is believed to trigger water consumption deemed healthy for the body of the people who were fasting. The dish is often consumed in the morning. In the northern town of Beja, Tunisians make a pastry called hlalem, which believed to help the stomach recover from fasting habits.
Morocco:
The north African country has unique way of celebrating Eid day. Eid-ul-Fitr has a strong focus on religion; it is not a commercial event in Morocco. Celebrations are often taking place in homes or other private spaces. Both men and women attend the Eid pray in Mosques. Male Moroccans typically wear a new djellaba or jabador with the traditional Moroccan shoes, balgha. Djellabas and jabadors are both long, loose items of clothing. Women wear traditional clothes too, such as kaftans, djellabas or tackchita.
Because Eid-ul-Fitr is a time for private gathering of families, friends and whole community, a huge tagine is often prepared, served with the crusty Moroccan bread called khobz, fresh fruit, and mint tea.
Moroccans serve their guests with Seffa Medfouna. It consists of saffron chicken, lamb or beef hidden within a dome of steamed couscous or broken vermicelli. The couscous or vermicelli is sweetened with raisins, butter, and powdered sugar and decorated with ground-fried almonds, cinnamon, and additional powdered sugar. Chicken with preserved lemon and olives is a classic Moroccan dish of Eid.
United States of America:
Muslims living in the United States offer prayer of the Eid in the conventions centeres, Mosque and other places where large number of followers could gather and then they visit the places of their relatives ,friends and family members to greet them and exchange gifts and celebrate the festival with delicacies prepared for the day.
Eid celebration exhibit the unity among Muslims belongs to various culture and countries. Many mosques and rich mummers of the society organize parties and get together. Sometime they book amusement parks for the community and everyone enjoys the festivity.
Pakistan:
Eid celebrations begin from 'Chaand Raat' families and young boys spend the night at shopping malls and bazaars to do shopping of Eid. Beautiful henna designs are drawn on the palms of women mostly young girls. Beauty parlors remain open all night. Women visit them for various beauty purposes, facials, haircuts, hair dyeing etc. Bangles are must have items on Eid shopping.
No occasion including the biggest festival of the year "EID" is complete without bangles. The bangle's twinkling and shining completes the dressing of women on Eid day. Until the Chand Raat their sale rises because every woman tends to select bangles sets of her choice. All small and big markets have set outlets of colourful bright plain, shiny; reshmi, metallic, glitter coated, and pearled bangles, and bracelets of various sizes.
The day of Eid begins with offering of Eid prayers in the Mosques by the men. Then many people visit graveyard to offer fatiha to their family members who are no more with them. Families make visit to their friends, relatives, neighbours. They carry with them cakes and sweet boxes. The variety of dishes cooked to celebrate the day. Sheer khurma and Biryani are the mandatory dishes prepared on Eid.