`Eid in Islam is a symbol of tranquility and serenity, and it is an opportunity for happiness and celebrations. Muslims glorify Allah the One the Almighty and restrain themselves from falling into sins and mischief. In addition, `Eid is a field for us to vie one another in doing good.
Unfortunately, during `Eid, some Muslims forsake their religious attire. By doing so, they abuse the spiritual cheerful meanings of `Eid, which overwhelm the souls in the hard times they may experience. Today, many Muslims receive `Eid with a languid mood and gloomy faces as if `Eid were a commercial transaction that is affected by the fluctuations of the market and the economic recession. They lost `Eid’s spiritual mood that imparts its cheerful impacts and lessons to people, regardless of their state of affairs.
The merit of `Eid requires us to be cheerful during it. We should congratulate one another on its comings and put sorrows away. We should do our best to spread happiness among Muslims. However, we should also show sympathy for our displaced brothers and sisters all over the globe. We should be concerned about their problems. Truly enlightened Muslims are those who harbor feelings of sympathy for those afflicted with calamities. They show their mercy, kindness, and cooperative spirit through giving a helping hand to those tried with calamities in other countries.
This does not mean that we should mourn and shed tears during `Eid. We are not required to be like those who are distressed over the death of a close relative or mate. During `Eid, the Muslim Ummah should wisely celebrate these blessed days by expressing moderate happiness, without forgetting the Muslims afflicted with calamities.
We should show our solidarity with the Ummah in its conflict with its enemies. We should exhibit feelings of brotherhood and unity by expressing our sympathy for the Muslim brothers and sisters encountering hardships in their countries. We should help them and pray for them too.
I am addressing all Muslims, who are now happily preparing to receive the `Eid by buying meat and new clothes. I would like to tell them that some preparations are more noble in the sight of Allah. There are more rewarding preparations that they should take into account before and during `Eid: We should all be ready to help the poor and the needy. We should help those in need among our relatives and neighbors.
We should all look for such people and get to know their needs. We have to try our best to make them happy. If a person is not rich enough to provide those people with all that they need, he or she can at least speak to them tenderly, showing kindness and care to them.
In the morning of `Eid, when we greet our kith and kin and then go to eat delicious food with our family members, we should remember the orphans who miss the kindness of their parents, the widows who miss the smiles of their husbands, the parents who lost their children, and the multitude of displaced Muslims worldwide. We should remember all those who find it hard to feel the happiness of `Eid.
It is also important to know that when we console those in distress and seek to alleviate their pains, we gain the pleasure of Almighty Allah, Who says,
(And (as for) the believing men and the believing women, they are guardians of one another) (At-Tawbah 9:71)
(And whatever good thing you spend — it is for your own good.) (Al-Baqarah 2:272)
([For] whoever does good, it is for his own soul, and [for] whoever does evil, it is against himself; then you shall be brought back to your Lord.) (Al-Jathiyah 45:15)
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said,
“[For] whoever relieves a hardship from the hardships of this worldly life for a believer, Allah will relieve a hardship from the hardships of the Day of Resurrection for him [or her] …. And Allah helps the servant as long as this servant helps his brother [or sister].” (Muslim)
He also said,
“The metaphor of the believers in their mutual love, mercy, and affection is that of the body: When one limb of it complains, the rest of the body collapses with it in sleeplessness and fever.” (Muslim)
May Allah bless our `Eids and enable us to put the teachings of our religion into effect.
By Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al Hamad
Translated by Samah Abdel-Hakam
