Salaam alaikum and Eid Mubarak!!!!
Insha’Allah, your Eid festivities have been lovely. Mine was surprisingly great. I wasn’t planning on doing much because my mosque celebrated Eid on Wednesday and most celebrations would take place on the weekend. So, I went to the mosque for Eid salat, ate donuts and all the goodies served after Eid salat and I made plans to visit my fam in Booneyland, GA. But a very lovely sister invited me to a tea party so I went. And I’m so glad I went! It was my first tea party.
It was very nice but it was also something different. One of the great things about Eid celebrations in the West is that we aren’t locked into certain traditions that dictate how we should celebrate Eid. We don’t have to decorate in certain colors or do certain things beyond the takbirs and the prayer. If the Eid falls around Spring or Summertime, you could have a picnic in the park or have an all-girl swimming party. If it’s in the winter, you can have a snow fight or go ice skating. Or you can do like we did–enjoy cups of delicious Vanilla Chai and Morning Rose tea while dining on tasty vegetable soup and cheesecake. Oh, it was yummy!
I know that Eids should be special, especially Eid al Adha. Eid al Adha is the bigger Eid but in the West, it seems like a lot of us just don’t make the effort. If I had kids, I would probably try to teach them about the rites of Hajj, throw a special Eid party with cutesy decorations and what not. After all, we can’t blame the youth for having a blah-blah attitude towards the Eids if we don’t try to make it special. Alhamdulillah, this attitude is changing. Groups are getting together to throw bowling parties, khatims, parties, picnics and of course, family dinners.
Like everything else in our community, it will take time for the Muslim American culture to grow and take root and our Eid celebrations are a reflection of this. Insha’Allah, five to ten years from now, we will see a more of a melding of the best of American culture with our religious holidays.
Eid Loneliness: Solutions? « Aaminah Hernández said,
December 22, 2007 at 2:18 pm
[...] perfect example of a solution is on Izzy Mo’s blog right now. She attended an Eid Tea Party, which I think is wonderful idea. We should not feel constrained to “certain kinds” of [...]
Aaminah said,
December 22, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Asalaamu alaikum ukhti,
I am so glad you had fun, and I appreciate you sharing this because it can inshaAllah inspire us to make Eid special in different and creative ways. I love the photo too.
Salimah said,
December 23, 2007 at 1:30 am
Insha’allah the Eid celebrations will become more inspiring. But there have been Eid celebrations in the U.S. for years! Many of us second third and now even fourth generation practicing Muslims of African American descent have always had festivals and celebrations with a distinct American flare. We have rented out entire roller skating rinks, amusement parks, etc… One problem is that every ethnic community separates and caters to their own “community.” This is a problem within the Ummah in general.
Victoria said,
December 23, 2007 at 5:00 am
You don’t know me, but I drop by your blog quite frequently.
I’ve just tagged you in the ‘Roar for Powerful Words Award’. The details are here:
http://shamelesswords.blogspot.com/2007/11/roar-for-powerful-words.html
Ma’asalaama.
fahad said,
December 23, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Wsalam, and a hearty Eid Mubarak to you as well!
darvish said,
December 23, 2007 at 6:42 pm
I love tea parties
Last one I was at had a nice girl named Alice and a guy with a big hat (he was a little crazy) and delicious cookies but some woman named Queenie Hearts ate them all!
Eid Mubarak :))
Ya Haqq!
izzymo said,
December 24, 2007 at 4:53 am
Eid Kareem people!!
Aaminah: Thanks, sis. Honestly, I’ve stopped trying to make Eid this huge, spectacular event. It think it can be lovely if we stop expecting it to be like Christmas. It can be nice, simple and relaxing if we would stop having those high expectations that we had for Christmas. And ever since I stopped trying so hard, I’ve had much more fun.
Salimah: As far as immigrants go, there is a ton of reasons for that. I’m sure it has a lot to do with how Eid was celebrated back in their home country. So what might seem as a snub may just be a cultural thing. So if you come from a place where Eid is a day with the family then you bring that concept with you when you emigrate. So our perspective as Americans will always be different because we are coming from a culture where big community parties are the order of the day. And to be honest, I think it has more to with the American Umma then the global umma in general. There’s a lot of misunderstanding and cultural misreadings that often end up being interpreted as racism and snobbery. One day, the immigrant and indigenous communities will merge but it won’t happen overnight.
Victoria: Hey, thanks, sis! I tried to leave a comment on your blog but it didn’t go through.
But thanks for stopping by and please recommend the blog to those conservative passerbys! 
Fahad: Eid Kareem, brother! Long time, no hear! How was your Eid?
Darvish: This is too cute! You always have something whimsical to say! Ya Haleem!
Margari Aziza Hill said,
December 25, 2007 at 7:33 am
Salaams Izzy Mo,
I have written about how lonely Eid is. I just wanted to clarify, I don’t like big community parties. They are impersonal. I am not going to knock immigrants who want to have their family gatherings. The thing is, Christmas and Thanksgiving is about family, not the fancy holiday parties organized by companies. The thing about Eid is that I’m all ALONE celebrating it. I don’t have a family to celebrate with, to remember with me. Since there are many converts in similar situations, they should be something in place to help us integrate in the broader Muslim community. I’m not expecting immigrants to do it, but rather we converts have to take our own initiative to do things to make Eid special. We have to forge new families and new bonds.
Samira said,
January 2, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Wow! You’re tea party sounds marvelous. I try to do something very special for Eid. I agree with your idea about making it something special for the kids Insha’Allah!