By The Numbers
The essence of Eid
Eid-ul-Fitr, the greatest religious festival of the Muslims, will be celebrated in Bangladesh on Saturday or Sunday next, depending on the sighting of the moon, with due solemnity. It is an exceptional occasion; totally different from any other festival, and comes after a month-long endeavour for self-control. The real invocation of this festival is spiritual thanksgiving and communal amity.
Eid, whose literal meaning is "that which returns," is a major annual religious event marked by the spirit of equality and fraternity. It really returns every year with a reminder of fellow-feeling and forbearance that we are expected to demonstrate in every sphere of our life. Unfortunately, many of us who are Muslim by birth, rather than choice, hardly ever try to delve deep into the essence of Eid.
Each religious festival heralds a joyous and carnival atmosphere. But the prevailing economic situation has outpaced the festive mood for many. The continuing high prices of all essentials have eroded the real income of the common people, who cannot afford to buy pricey new dresses for their children. Therefore, in too many houses across the country, the joys of Eid will be very limited this year.
Despite of this reality, various segments of people are preparing themselves to celebrate the happy occasion with their dear and near ones within their means. But the homeward journey of the people for family reunion has become an ordeal, as the transport services are overstretched.
The spirit of Eid-ul-Fitr tends to activate the message of Islam for peace, unity and fraternity, and we all need to be imbued with it. But the celebration of Eid is not tempered with the principles that define piety and reverberate with love and generosity. Now the spirit of equality and generosity ends there in our feudalistic society based on consumerism.
On the Eid eve, when many Muslim houses are agog with the expectation of celebrating it with all the pomp and grandeur, no joys of Eid will touch hundreds and thousands of people living in extreme poverty across the country. When the members of affluent families swoop on delicious dishes on the day of Eid, they will be quite disgusted with the pitiful voice of some hungry people standing outside their gates for some left-overs.
While planning for mirth and festivity, costly new fashionable dresses, and gastronomic delights for Eid celebration, do we ever think for a while that so many people living around us will be forced to go without adequate food even on the day of Eid? Should not we have Eid compassion for these poor people? Their deprivation would not be so much if we had a caring and sharing socio-economic system.
The Muslims of Bangladesh, where the Islamic faith has been an integral component of social behaviour, are expected to be sensitive about the pains and needs of the unfortunate human beings living around them, at least on the day of Eid, as Ramadan is supposed to instill some generosity in them. Eid does not really consist of pomp and mirth, but it lies embedded in service to humanity. And this is the essence of Eid.
Surely, Eid is not for frivolous amusement and immoral indulgences. Not even for mere rites and rituals. It stresses the equality and fraternity of all mankind and enjoins on true Muslims not to celebrate the Eid selfishly. Therefore, the celebration of Eid should be universal in nature and appeal.
Unfortunately, we find a contradictory reflection of this core message of Eid in its celebration. Many affluent Muslims make a pretension of observing this generosity by letting some crumbs fall from their dinning tables for the poor on the day of Eid, not much beyond.
Eid is indeed an occasion for promoting egalitarianism, brotherhood and reconciliation. This special significance and spiritual values of Eid provide the guiding principles for the Muslims to follow. But this essence of Eid is seen to be observed more in rituals than in substance.
The news items in the media involving the sale of exotic products and the photos of smiling models reveal that Eid is increasingly becoming a festival for the affluent people. We are, however, deprived this year of having a glimpse of eye-catching lahangas costing lakhs of Taka on the newspaper pages or on the TV screen. Of course, this is an outcome of the crackdown on corrupt people.
This year, a famine-like situation, locally known as "monga," has broken out in the northern districts of the country on the eve of Eid. The greater Rangpur and Dinajpur areas are now in the grip of this, with millions of poor and landless people starving due to lack of jobs and a severe scarcity of food.
The communities on the banks of the rivers Dharla, Teesta and Brahmaputra and the adjacent villages are worst hit by this famine-like situation as they were washed away twice by the recent floods.
One might argue that the Open Market Sale (OMS) of rice through out the country is also there to deal with the situation. But the OMS is not coming to the help of the people having no purchasing power. Thousands of families of zero income have gone destitute and are literally living on whatever they can scrape off their surroundings.
Eid, the holy occasion of happiness and generosity, sanctioned by religion, cannot be observed with due solemnity while thousands of people living in the northern districts of the country are spending their days in hunger. The observance of Eid will be really meaningful if we could share a little bit of our joys with the distressed human beings.
Let Eid-ul-Fitr this year, be a prayer for durable peace and serenity in the country. May the message of Eid cure political estrangement and ill-feeling among the politicians, and may the true sense of fellow-felling and brotherhood be imbibed by them. May we as a nation attain that much needed spiritual intelligence for establishing an ideal life signifying the essence of Eid.
A.N.M. Nurul Haque is a columnist of The Daily Star.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments