Lomography

Eid-ul-Fitr

Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Fitr, Id-ul-Fitr, or Id al-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 "breaking the fast". The holiday celebrates the conclusion of the 29 or 30 days of dawn-to-sunset fasting during the entire month of Ramadan. The first day of Eid, therefore, falls on the first day of the month Shawwal. Eid-ul-Fitr has a particular salah (Islamic prayer) consisting of two raka'ah (units) and generally offered in an open field or large hall called an Eed-gah.[1] It may only be performed in congregation (Jama’at) and has an additional extra six Takbirs (raising of the hands to the ears while saying Allah-u-Akbar [God is Great]), three of them in the beginning of the first raka'ah and three of them just before ruku' in the second raka'ah in the Hanafi school.[2] This Eid ul-Fitr salah is, depending on which juristic opinion is followed, Fard (obligatory), Mustahabb (strongly recommended, just short of obligatory) or mandoob (preferable).[1] Muslims are commanded by God in the Qur'an to complete their fast until the last day of Ramadan[3] and pay the Zakat al-fitr before doing the Eid prayer.