M. Mizanur Rahman :
Eid-ul-Fitr is highly significant in human life. After maintaining the strict physical abstinence controlling all types of sensual passions throughout the month of Ramadan an able bodied Muslim fasts till the fall of dusk. It’s all learning self-control of an individual to keep the body and mind purely devoted to the Omnipotent Almighty Allah. During this period a Muslim of either sex has to maintain self-control against indecent mannerism. The purity of human self is that Islam teaches us all along to maintain character towards humanism. Those all of us confide in loving fellow human beings undisturbed. Contrary to it is betrayal to Islam that a Muslim must keep in mind. Our great Prophet presented us after this abstemious month of Ramadan a brilliant day of enjoying Eid-ul-Fitr of universal union of humanity. We great one another blithely and joyfully hallowing Eid Mubarak!
Sadaqatul Fitr is payable to the destitute and have-nots positively before attending the Eid prayer. It is taught that every one of the have-nots must have share of the riches proportionately that must be paid off on the day before joining the Eid prayer. It is obligatory for every Muslim to abide by this code of conduct. Wants of the poor must be mitigated if not removed entirely.
In this context Islamic scholar Abul Hashim in his Introduction to ‘The Creed Of Islam’ cleared the vision as saying, “The pragmatic and operative aspect of the Holy Quran is divided into two parts–duty to God and duty to man…Duty to God is private and personal and duty to man is the public and social part of the teachings of the Holy Quran. The novelty of the Holy Quran is that it makes performance of duty to God void and invalid when duty to man is ignored or is not duly performed.”
Great poet Kazi Nazrul Islam’s popular Islamic song :
After the end Ramadan fasting we got happiness of Eid ;
gladness tidings O my heart!
It’s Allah that wants you to sacrifice yourself indeed!
Distribute some of all that you possess
Your jewelries, properties
In the name of the Almighty Allah !
Bring about the awakening of the sleeping dead Muslims!
Offer Jakat prior to performing your Eid prayer on the field of Eidgah!
This is that field where Muslims fought for Iman(Faith)
being some gazi and some were martyrs!
Forget all that enmities you breed rather be friends
and now shake hands.
Better unite the people of the world in the bond of love
conversion of Islam.
Those that fast all their life appear to have been fasting
time and again;
give them all that relief- to those orphans, and beggars!
Distribute sweet sirnee (gruel) on the plate of your Tawheed (Islam).
Your invitation would be granted by Hazrat Rasulullah it’s ascertained.
Those who struck you throwing stones and bricks,
better build the ‘Mosque of Love’ by those stones and bricks.
This world would have been made heaven provided the people of the world would understand Islam as the code of conduct of human life. Islam is said to be the religion of man on plain cause of its ethics. Here equality in all respect among human beings without any distinction between the male and the female requires to be preserved. Both social and economic equality in Islam is just obligatory. While observing fast from the beginning of the month of Ramadan one has to realise the torment of those who remain hungry for want of food. So the person must do something to ensure that no one among his neighbours should remain unfed. Here is the soul-searching realisation of the person fasting in accordance with the tenet of Islam. You ask yourself as a Muslim how far you are obliged to perform your fasting properly. This is a great learning in Islam. It taught the Muslims to remain self-restraint (self-purified). The fasting of Ramadan symbolises a sort of Jehad — a holy war waged against evils out of the soul. During this period abstinence is a boon while charity is an opportunity for the wealthy people to succor the suffering humanity in distress.
The month of Ramadan is against the greed of the rich people. They are warned to reduce their caprice and temptation to nil and practive charity. Fasting inspires one for self-rectification. Through this learning none of the Muslims can become the evildoers. Fasting also makes the mind of an individual balanced and patient towards recluse of purified soul where the spirit of love for the have-nots wakes up. Scientifically a moral obligation among human beings is built up here to bring about a serene and sacred compassionate heart from all of the social turbidity.
At the end of the month of Ramadan the great day of festival of Eid-ul-Fitr has come that is the most ecstatic joy of charity. After the prayer one embraces other to confirm amity according to Islamic brotherhood. In this performance there should not be made any difference between the rich and the poor, high and low, distinguished and undistinguished. Everybody should be treated equal irrespective of so-called social status. This is an example of social uniformity in Islam. Eid-ul-Fitr festival does neither invite competition of fashion shows nor allow undue privileges of unfair income or expenditure. This grand festival does not entertain fun or frolics, pomp and grandeur, aristocratic pride of passion or vaunt of riches. It is straight love for humanity as a whole. Be happy here making others happy. That is why there is distribution of sweetmeats among all irrespective of different sections in the society. This great festival was started by the great Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) since his Hijrat (migration) in 622 AD from Makka to Yathrib (now Madina). At that time the people of Arabia got influenced by the Persian people in some of their culture, tradition and they used to celebrate Naroz and Mihirjan for a few days with funs and frolics, enjoying vulgar dances of women and drinking bouts of those highly placed people and gambling, unusual violence and conflicts often led them to bloodshed. Moreover there was a gulf of difference between the rich and the poor in celebration of this auspicious day of the New Year (Nawroz). These were absolutely incompatible with Islam. Hazrat Muhammad (Pbuh) was shocked having seen such immoral and inhuman carnival. He introduced Eid according to the Divine will. The zamat of Eid-ul-Fitr is a huge congregation of people seeking Almighty Allah’s blessings for the benefit of all. And this great assembly of pleasant united people of all classes throng with the great expectation of love and amity among all. There is no bar on congregation on the part of Muslim women also. They can share such joy of prayer equally with their counterpart men. And that is why the poet sang :
O great Eid! O song of humanism!
Let all sorrow go, let all heart sing that psalm.
Welcome O Eid! Touch all hearts, welcome!
Delighting and lighting every human heart.
This is the green land
Which needs everything that’s good.
Come O come to each abode.
O immortal Eid come!
Ward off sickness, suffering and diseases
and separation between man and man.
Let all strife and conflict of man is gone.
.. Overwhelming the mental horizon,
Let only good abide in the heart,
Welcome O welcome heart unto heart!*
Islam is the complete code of life. This message is inherent in different Ayats(verses) of Al-Quran. These verses are required to be interpreted by the wise academics properly and propagated among the common people in simple but explicit language so that no ambiguity takes place anywhere. It is observed that some of the interpreters boost on miraculous aspects of Behesht (Heaven) and Dojokh(hell) before the common people. They should also stress on the material side of Islam. Islam should not be complicated by contradictory interpretations.
The poet says :
Who says heaven and hell are far away?
Both heaven and hell, pious and devil exist among human beings.*
Religious ideals are not mere words of ethics. We must have them in our everyday life in practice. The very simple adage is to be considered that ‘practice makes a man perfect’. perfect unity of human entity. Five times prayer in is obligatory for the Muslims. And each mosque is the local assembly house for the Muslims to strengthen the fortitude of faith without any distinction between the rich and the poor. This faith must have reciprocal interests both social and economic in order to make the community free from all material bonds and to live peacefully. Eid-ul-Fitr is the proof of that large assembly of the faithful to have the test of Islamic fraternity. Honestly speaking if Muslims used to practice their faith in the truest sense of terms the people of other faiths would also accept this religion of peace gracefully. Let us fortify that spirit of Islam faithfully by the grace of Almighty Allah.
Let us sing of Nazrul’s song on Eid-ul-Fitr in unison:
“After the end of the fasting of Ramadan the Eid-ul-Fitr of our grand pleasure has come… Let’s sacrifice our excess wealth to those have-nots expecting their shares of our riches.”*
Eid-ul-Fitr should be considered as the demonstration of the Islamic faith towards unity among the faithful that inculcates discipline to bring about peace for social equilibrium politically and economically for the Ummah. This unity is not only for the Muslim community alone rather this is to be practiced by all the people of the world irrespective of their caste and creed in order to maintain peace and harmony among mankind. Islam shows this Divine way of life, which is to be followed by the human beings from here to eternity. This terrestrial affinity of Islam binds humanity in oneness without distinction where violence does not have place to exist and where every individual’s interests have its inherent protection with natural discipline.
The eminent Bengali poet, orator, politician and patriot Mrs.Sorojini Naidu embellished Islam on Eid-uz-Zoha in 1915 in her poem ‘The Prayer of Islam’ thus-
We praise Thee, O Compassionate!
Master of Life and Time and Fate,
Lord of the laboring winds and seas,
Ya Hameed! Ya Hafeez!
Thou art the Radiance for our ways,
Thou art the Pardon of our days,
Whose name is known from star to star,
Ya Ghani! Ya Ghaffar!
Thou art the Goal for which we long,
Thou art our Silence and our Song,
Life of the Sunbeam and the Seed
Ya Wahab! Ya Waheed!
Thou dost transmute from hour to hour
Our mortal weakness into power,
Our bondage into liberty,
Ya Quadeer! Ya Quavi!
We are the shadows of Thy light,
We are the secrets of Thy might,
The visions of Thy primal dream
Ya Rahman! Ya Raheem!
This universal festival should not be treated as one day’s performance. This performance of social and economic equality among human beings in the truest sense of terms and conditions that boosts harmonious affinity should be carried on perpetually.
…
*Welcome To Eid by poet M.Mizanur Rahman ( Under The Same Sky / Under The Same Sun).
*Poet Sk.Fazlal Karim, Tr.by M.Mizanur Rahman
*Lyrics by poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, Tr. by M.Mizanur Rahman
* The Creed Of Islam by Abul Hashim, p 34.
-*The author of this article is a poet, essayist, storyteller, translator and columnist.
