Eid'l Fitr: The New Year Celebration in the Muslim World

As the sunrise begins on September 10, Friday, the culminating activity of Ramadan, a month-long fasting of our Muslim brothers and sisters will start and a new year-like celebration (along with fireworks) will be seen in the major cities here in the Philippines. Of course, halal meals (all vegetarian meals) will be served to family members and friends (including Christian-friends who are interested to partake).

This also coincides with the directive of our President Benigno S. Aquino III aka P-Noy, to observe the day as a regular holiday throughout the country; to give our Muslim counterparts full opportunity to celebrate after a month-long fasting.

 Muslims in the Philippines live alongside with Christians and other religious sects simultaneously. Although, there are isolated Muslim groups who are fundamentalists who continue to create chaos in the archipelago, the respect to each other's beliefs are presence in day-to-day challenges.

So getting to know them will erase all the stereotyping that we usually read, hear or even witness from skeptics and negative thinkers.

Common greetings during this holiday are the Arabic greeting ‘Eid Mubārak ("Blessed Eid") or ‘Eid Sa‘eed ("Happy Eid"). In addition, many countries have their own greetings based on local language and traditions - in Turkey, for example, a typical saying might be Bayramınız kutlu olsun or "May your Bayram - Eid - be happy." Muslims are also encouraged on this day to forgive and forget any differences or past animosities that may have occured with others during the year.

So, if only all of us will live by our faith and not with our personal differences and ideologies, there will be no war on Earth.

 Many Christian believers are beginning to be converted as Muslims, these days. To mention a few, Philippine movie action star Robin Padilla is a convert and vocally advocates the teaching of Koran.

It's not about marrying many women, I think. It's about the steadfast teachings that lure non-believers to try a new lifestyle based from the holy teachings of prophet Muhammed.

Eid ul-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 "conclusion of the fast"; and so the holiday symbolizes the celebration of the conclusion of the month of fasting from dawn to sunset during the entire month of Ramadan (calendar month). The first day of Eid, therefore, is the first day of the month Shawwal that comes after Ramadan.

I've read a Filipino version of the Koran and I see no wrong with the teachings on it. I think that all kinds of faith are  interlaced with one another or the continuation of the process of having faith wherever you are in this world.