Eid-ul-Fitr: Message To Muslims Around The World

Alhamdulillah, All Praise be to Allah, by whose Grace and Blessings we, at the Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Foundation (STBHF) are able to felicitate the Muslim ummah worldwide.

Eid-ul-Fitr is an Islamic holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. This is a time for peace for all Muslims in the world to devote to prayers and mutual well-being. It is a joyous occasion with important religious significance. Happiness is observed at attaining spiritual uplift after a month of fasting.

On this auspicious occasion, the Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Foundation (STBHF) would wish to extend its warmest wishes to Muslims celebrating Eid-el-Fitr in Qatar and around the world. We congratulate all members of the Muslim community, the men and women who have successfully undertaken the month-long Ramadan fasting.

Eid-ul-Fitr is considered one of the main festivals of the Muslim people all over the world. The festival of Eid is celebrated every year after the spotting of the moon on the 30th day of Ramadan. The festival is also called the Festival of Breaking the Fast. The Muslim communities all around the world fast for 30 days called Ramzan or Ramadan, before finally breaking it on Eid-al-Fitr. On this day, people forget their grievances and embrace each other and wish for each other's well being.

Muslims also offer prayers in large groups. But this time due to lockdowns and other necessary health precautionary measures because of the escalating COVID-19 pandemic, everyone is celebrating the occasion by following the rules of social distancing. While people will celebrate the festival at their homes, the spirit and enthusiasm of the day are at its peak.

Muslims are not only celebrating the end of fasting, but thanking God for the help and strength that they believe He gave them throughout the previous month to help them practice self-control.

The significant of Eid -ul -Fitr is purely spiritual. It is the day when the Muslims thank Allah for having given them the will, the strength and the endurance to observe fast and obey His commandment during the holy month of Ramadhan. Eid has no connection with any historical event nor is it related to the changes of seasons or cycles of agriculture. It is not a festival related in any way to worldly affairs.

This day, in Muslim world, brings rejoicing and happiness. The rejoicing is not, however, at the departure of the month of Ramadhan; it is the happiness which man feels after successfully completing an important task.

So far as the passing away of the month of Ramadan is concerned, Muslim religious leaders of the early days of Islam always felt profound sorrow when it came to an end, as they felt that they were being deprived of the spiritual blessings which were associated with the month of fasting. These show the true Islamic feeling towards the month of Ramadan and its blessings and spiritual benefits.

Eid-ul -Fitr is related to such a month of blessings, because it is on this day that the strict restrictions of the preceding month are lifted. Unfortunately, in some places, this resumption of the normal activities is misinterpreted as a licence to indulge in activities prohibited in Islam, like transgression against peaceful neighbours-the case of Saudi Arabia championing a campaign of lies, deception and terrorism against the people of Qatar.

Fortunately, such trends are not common yet; but such States should be made to understand the significance of Eid -ul-Fitr. Religious observances of the Eid-ul-Fitr are designed to offer thanks to Allah that He helped us in accomplishing the aim of Ramadhan.

Surely, it would be an affront to Allah if anybody, after thanking Him for completing that spiritual training, goes right away sinning against Him!

Eid-ul-Fitr can be interpreted as a three-fold blessing: First it provides one more occasion for the Muslims to thank God and remember His blessings.

Secondly, it affords an opportunity of spiritual stock-taking, after the month of Ramadhan. A Muslim can now ponder over the strength (or weakness) of his will power; he can see, in the mirror of Ramadhan, what were the strong (or weak) points of his character, because under the stress of fasting, the hidden qualities (or evils) of human character come to surface in such clear way which is, perhaps, not possible otherwise. Thus a man gets a chance of self-diagnosis of the traits of his character, which probably no one else may ever detect.

Thirdly, it enjoins the well-to -do persons to share a portion of what they have with their poor brethren. On the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr, a Muslim is obliged to give to the needy food-stuff at the rate of a prescribed weight, on behalf of himself and of every member of his family, including servants and guests who were sheltered under his roof on that night. It would certainly be pleasing to God if we did not forget these lessons after Eid-ul-Fitr.

Incidentally, here the difference between religious and materialistic outlooks becomes sharper. Religion exhorts a man to give, by his own free will, a share of his wealth to those who are less fortunate, and to give it for obtaining the blessings of God. Materialism teaches him to snatch from others whatever they have got without any regard to the moral or ethical questions involved.

Thus, the religion tries to strengthen the highest qualities of the human character; materialism strives to make him the slave of the lowest animal instincts degrading him to the level of the beasts.

It is gratifying that in recent years, our generous citizens, according to the humanistic customs inherited from our ancestors, have been helping low-income families, orphans, the disabled, orphanages and nursing homes, – making a worthy contribution to the improvement of cities and towns of our country.

We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has done pious deeds in this holy month and we are confident that the number of such people will continue to grow.

Each good deed aimed at supporting the orphaned and the poor in the Muslim culture is considered the best deed.

The humanistic and tolerant nature of the sacred religion of Islam is expressed through such good and godly deeds, and importantly, such actions contribute to the strengthening of national unity, stability in society and relations between the inhabitants of the country.

Even in the early stages of the spread of Islam, the wise and insightful sons of the Tajik people and culture, such as Imam Azam Abu Hanifa and Imam al-Bukhari, played a prominent role in commenting and spreading the humanistic ideas of the sacred religion of Islam, in spreading science, enlightening the people and promoting cultural values.

Indeed, the maintenance of the lamplight of education and the encouragement for the study of science are one of the most important points in the teachings of our highly educated ancestors.

We would like to express our respect to all Muslims who are making great efforts to prevent the spread of the Corona virus pandemic during the holy holiday of Eid al-Fitr. We highly value our relations of trust with Muslim communities and countries, and we hope to strengthen the relations in such areas like charity and providing noble service to improve the lives of people.

While we are facing the deadly Corona virus pandemic, we would like to cooperate closely with the international community including all Muslims in order to overcome this challenge, and further strengthen the deep and cordial relationships with Muslim communities worldwide.

As we observe Eid-al-Fitr this year, we prayer that the faith and will of the faithful be directed to the accomplishment and creation, and not to incite hatreds, revenge and committing actions that threatened the existence of humankind. We would like also to extend our unflinching solidarity to the Muslim Ummah, and wish for early convergence of the Corona virus pandemic, as well as their health and happiness.

Concluding, we would like to commend Muslims around the world for their courage and sacrifices in agreeing to celebrate and pray from their various homes to stay safe and save lives. Before we request joy and success, we ought to request kindness. May Allah shower his leniency on us! Ameen!!

Happy Eid-al-Fitr!

Sender:

Mohamed Alie Jalloh

Programme Coordinator

Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Foundation

(STBHF)