Time to feast after a month

Muslims around the country are looking forward to Eid celebrations after fasting through the holy month of Ramzan.

Muslims around the country are looking forward to Eid celebrations after fasting through the holy month of Ramzan.

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Sects in the community, mainly the Sunnis, that rely on the sighting of the moon to declare Eid will observe the festival on Monday or Tuesday. The Hilal committee, a body of Muslim religious heads and community leaders, will announce Eid the night after it sights the moon. If the crescent moon is sighted on Sunday, Eid will be observed on Monday.

“We also go on the terrace and look for the moon,” said media student Sadaf Modak. “But in Mumbai it is difficult to spot it because of the tall buildings and pollution.”

However, the Dawoodi Bohras, will observe Eid on Sunday, exactly a month after the first day of Ramzan.

The faithful wake up early on Eid and attend prayers at the mosque, all dressed in their best. People have already begun shopping for Eid clothes and planning the day with family and friends. “Dinners are planned weeks in advance but I look forward to the morning prayers,” said Sakina Sanchawala, a 24-year-old freelance event management executive who fasted throughout the month.

Modak (20), however, looks forward to the Eidi (blessings from family elders in the form of money) she receives from her elders. “But many of my elders have stopped giving me Eidi saying I’m too old for it now,” she said.