For the Muslim believer, Allah (God Almighty) has given him two great celebrations, moments of joy (Eids) in his life: Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha. Whereas the Eid-ul-Adha is the Eid of Sacrifice, commemorating the great sacrifice of Prophet Abraham (as), the Eid-ul-Fitr commemorates the intense sacrifices which the Muslim believer has done for His Lord (Rab) during the fasting month of Ramadan.
HAZRAT IMAM MUHYI-UD-DIN
JAMAAT UL SAHIH AL ISLAM
If fasting has been prescribed by the Lord of the World (Rab’ul Aalamin) as a way to draw His sincere believers to Himself, to enable them to get Himself as reward, Allah has also given them a day of rejoice for fasting a whole month for Him. This day is the Eid-ul-Fitr, and is filled with extraordinary blessings for the Muslim believers who truly and sincerely complied with all requirements of the fasting days of the holy month of Ramadan.
Fasting in Ramadan is not like fasting any other day. It has certain restrictions and limitations which if followed, opens the door of Divine Pleasure. If fact, God Almighty draws closer to such people and pours down His mercy and love upon them. That is why also, all true Ramadan fasters strive to acquire the intense blessings of this month because of the Most Cherished Treasure (i.e. Allah) they shall acquire at the end of their fasting.
If Ramadan is both a sweet and sour trial for the believer, Eid-ul-Fitr comes as a liberation from all limitations imposed by God Almighty during the blessed month and it also acts as a reminder and an encouragement for him to pursue the same good habits till the next Ramadan and this, till the end of his temporal life. Thus, Ramadan is a month of intense training for the physical, moral and spiritual growth of the believer. Every Ramadan is meant as a training for his body, mind and soul to rid themselves from all darkness and to greet light with open arms. All negativity, all stress, all evil-mindedness, and all intrinsic and extrinsic problems of the believer fade away to let in pure divine light which gives him a most needed boost for his very own well-being and that of his family, friends, neighbours, his environment and society as a whole. Everybody shall be at peace with him when he is himself at peace. And if evil try to get in the way, the peacefulness, serenity and the spirit of goodness he has developed and/ or acquired during that month makes him strive to combat it by peaceful means and with Divine Succour.
Indeed, the Muslim believer (and all mankind) needs to be always aware of his Creator. If the heart is joyful, at peace and pleased with God Almighty, if it has no complaint whatsoever towards His Creator, if he is content with what he has and strives to please God Almighty by following His commandments and staying within the limits of goodness, then his everyday shall truly be Eid (joyful) days and his lifetime shall be a representation of an everlasting Ramadan which he lives with full happiness, for indeed he then knows that true happiness is when God Almighty is truly pleased with him. His words and marks of approval count more than the rest of mankind, and indeed it is this very divine approval which joins him to mankind, feeling for all people of the world and understanding their plight and needs and helping him through the ordeals of life as he would have wished for himself from God.
Therefore, the celebrations in Islam are actually means to lift up the spiritual state of man and to bring him to new levels of spirituality, climbing the ladder of spiritual success and to achieve or realize God Almighty, our true Treasure, our true Goal, our true Identity.
On this note, I wish all my Muslim brothers and sisters Eid Mubarak. May your everyday be Eid day which brings you closer and closer to your Creator, Him pleased with you and you also pleased with Him. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
* (as) – upon him be peace