How we celebrated Eid, then and now!
I sometimes feel embarrassed when I tell people from different religious backgrounds, or even Muslims from other parts of the world, that the best part of Eid is receiving monetary gifts from my uncles and aunts.
After a long day of visiting relatives that you normally don’t see otherwise, I used to have lunch at my grandmother’s place and then take a short nap. We generally got promises of visits to the toy store and using the collected money to get one toy. The rest would either go into our savings account (or just magically disappear).
That stops when you grow up and become an adult. I stopped going to video game stores and ordering my happy meal after leaving the toy store with my aunt.
In fact it slowly becomes my turn to give money to nephews and nieces. Soon, it might even be my turn to start taking them to the toy store. In my childhood, this made Eid memorable. I loved it but growing up changed things so much.
Modern families have different aspirations about Eid, mostly concerning travel. Even single people go and explore different parts of the world during this time. But can that preserve the main function of Eid as an Islamic holiday?
A lot of my peers argue that staying in Qatar for Eid is not really necessary. You can always use Skype or Facetime to interact with your loved ones and wish them Eid Mubarak!
Tell me, do you think Eid traditions are changing?
