Friday, September 10, 2010

--Eid ul-Fitr 2010--

Eid ul-Fitr (Arabic: عيد الفطر ‘Īdu l-Fiṭr‎), often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting (sawm). Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fiṭr means "break-fasting"; and so the holiday symbolizes the celebration of break-fasting after completing the fasting of the entire month of Ramadan (calendar month). The first day of Eid, therefore, is the first day of the month Shawwal that comes after Ramadan.
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Eid-ul-Fitr Salat (Namaz in Urdu/Persian) is a Wajib (strongly recommended, just short of obligatory) or mandoob depending on which juristic opinion is followed salat of two raka'ah (units) which is generally offered in an open field called Eidgah. This salat should be performed with Jama’at with extra six Takbirs, three of them in the beginning of the first raka'ah and three of them just before ruku' in the second raka'ah. Eid ul-Fitr is sometimes also known as the "Smaller Eid" (Arabic: العيد الصغير al-‘īdu ṣ-ṣaghīr‎) as compared to the Eid al-Adha that lasts four days following the Hajj and is casually referred to as the "Greater Eid" (Arabic: العيد الكبير al-‘īdu l-kabīr‎).
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Muslims are commanded by the Qur'an to complete their fast on the last day of Ramadan and then recite the Takbir all throughout the period of Eid.

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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hari_Raya_Aidilfitri