Sunday marked the end of the three day long Eid ul-Fitr celebrations. Eid ul-Fitr occurs at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, a time of great spiritual renewal for muslims. During Ramadan, Muslims dedicate themselves to a strict fast, charitable giving, living peacefully, and other pious activities.
On the morning of Eid ul-Fitr, people gather outdoors or in mosques to perform the Eid prayer, which consists of a sermon, and congressional prayers. After prayers, muslims scatter to meet family members and friends, and exchange gifts. During the three days of Eid, twitter was flooded with images of Muslims celebarting the stunning occasion with the tag #EidMubarak, which means happy Eid! Here are 9 tweets that I think did the celebration justice:
1) Empire state building lighting up to celebrate Eid
The Empire State Building will celebrate #Eid al-Fitr & mark the end of Ramadan with lights in green. #EidMubarakpic.twitter.com/UYIQNGfxti
— Empire State Bldg (@EmpireStateBldg) July 17, 2015
2) Prayers in Africa
Eid al-Fitr celebrated across Africa, in pictures http://t.co/OWjs2EV8vWpic.twitter.com/kBlqXCHHAy
— BBC Africa (@BBCAfrica) July 17, 2015
3) A stunning mosque Edirne, Turkey
#Muslims in #Turkey perform #EidAlFitr prayer at #SelimiyeMosque. Gokhan Balci/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images. pic.twitter.com/Rmc4CEcA2k
— Pouria Moradi (@moradipouria) August 3, 2014
4) Indian Muslims celebrate
In pics: India celebrates Eid-ul-Fitr pic.twitter.com/SXLN2ClYsZ
— NDTV (@ndtv) July 18, 2015
5) Indonesian Muslims
#Indonesian#Muslims perform #EidAlFitr prayer at #Parangkusumo beach. Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images. pic.twitter.com/dadip23whk
— Pouria Moradi (@moradipouria) August 3, 2014
6) Iran celebrates
#Namaz#EidAlFitr in #HolyShrine of #ImamRaza#Iran#Mashad@ShahTalks@KhadimOfAli@AhlulbaytTV@HEZBULLAH110pic.twitter.com/LyHzPtJ21V
— انإ مجنون الحسین۴ (@Labbaik_Ya_Imam) July 30, 2014
7) Love all around
#Muslims celebrating the festival of #EidAlFitr, one of the biggest religious event in the Islamic calendar. pic.twitter.com/hFLkk2Re60
— Dj Sumair (@djsumair) July 30, 2014
8) Henna designs in Karachi
Pakistani beauticians apply henna designs to customers in Karachi ahead of Eid al-Fitr #photo by Asif Hassan pic.twitter.com/DB32wyponD
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) July 16, 2015
9) Last but not least, my favorite (how punny haha)
Guys, I'm doing Eid today so.... pic.twitter.com/W2rfgUZUhk
— #Abdul (@HashtagAbdul) July 18, 2015
All too often, the world (and media) demonizes muslims and misconstrues Islam by assuming a fanatic few are representative of over 1.6 billion people. Eid is a vibrantly beautiful celebration, and a hallmark of Muslim life. Celebrations like Eid, and the values they carry, show us the true nature of Islam.