2. CHAAND RAAT
Chaand Raat is a time of
celebration when families and
friends gather in open areas at
the end of the last day of
Ramadan to spot the New
Moon, which signals the arrival
of the Islamic month of
Shawwal and the day of Eid.
Once the moon is sighted,
people wish each other Chaand
Raat Mubarak ("Have a blessed
night of the new moon") or Eid
Mubarak ("Blessings of the Eid
day"). Women and girls
decorate their hands with
mehndi (henna), and people
prepare desserts for the next
day of Eid and do the last round
of shopping.
3. Prepare for the
Eid’s Namaaz
The Eid prayer consists of two
ra'kat during which it is sunnah
to pronounce the takbir seven
times, after the opening takbir
and before the Qur'anic recital
in the first rak'ah. During the
second rak'ah, one makes
takbir five times after the
takbir which is customarily
made for standing after the
prostration. One is to raise
one's hands during each
pronouncement of the takbir.
This is based on a report
transmitted from Umar and his
son `Abd Allah ibn `Umar. The
Hanafi school holds that in the
first rak'ah three takbirat are
to be made after the opening
takbir, but before the recital.
4. Pakwaan Of
EID-UL-FITR
EID-UL-FITR is also known as "Sweet
Eid" because of the amount and
variety of sweet dishes consumed
on this occasion celebrating the
happy end of Ramadan (which
brings the mercy of Allah). The
breakfast of EID-UL-FITR are sweet
dishes including Sheer Khurma, a
dish made by cooking saviyaan ( a
local form of long pasta) with dates.
The pasta and dates cooked
separately in milk are also
consumed as breakfast before
offering Eid Prayer. Depending on
the locality, the types and forms of
the cuisine verity but are always
sweet dishes. These are not only
consumed inside houses but also
presented to relatives and friends
when visiting them on EID-UL-FITR.
