Eid Mubarak.
Two months and ten days after the end of Ramadan, it is time to celebrate again. As the millions who have gathered for Haj complete the obligatory prayers and rituals, the rest of the world joins them on the tenth day of Dhul Hijjah to perform a sacrifice following in the prophetic tradition of Ibrahim ﵇.
Back home, this is the only time that the neighbourhood butcher is the MVP. With everyone booking their time slots with him days in advance. Which isn’t any guarantee of his turning up at the appointed time, anyway.
Since leaving home, we still get our sacrifices performed back home. Just another way of staying connected to our roots. Something which probably many diaspora Muslims follow, like us.
The weather’s been nice, so there were quite a few congregational Eid prayers in the parks. Another couple of years, and as Dhul Hijjah moves towards early spring, they will be relegated to mosques and indoor spaces for the next couple of decades.
Hosting barbecues may still be a possibility. I found it puzzling when I first came to the UK, but quickly understood why barbecues here happen during summers, unlike how we did them during winters in north India. As long as the weather is dry, colder months can hold the possibility of trying out a barbecue. Even if in the name of trying to build and maintain an Eid tradition.