Mubarak

SallyB2
By SallyB2 Last edited 197 months ago
Mubarak
1110.eid.jpg

Londonist doesn’t need much excuse for a party, and firmly believes that we don’t have nearly enough festivals in the UK.

So we are delighted to be able to wish all of our Muslim readers a very Happy Eid. The new moon has been sighted in Saudi Arabia, which is all that is needed for Sunni Muslims to celebrate. For reasons too complicated to explain on a light-hearted blog-site, the Shi’ites nearly always announce the end of Ramadan a day later. (The Islamic calendar is lunar, and the holy month moves forward about ten days every year.)

This is why, we imagine, that the Mayor is kinda co-hosting (along with the Muslim Council of Great Britain and TfL, amongst others) Eid al Fitr celebrations a week later. There is to be rap and comedy and a street bazaar and bindi painting and, well, just loadsa fun.

For those of you who don’t have Muslim friends or neighbours or who didn’t do GCSE Religious Studies, for many Muslims, this Eid is the main celebration of the year, and it is usually marked with a three day knees-up, new clothes, and an unfeasible quantity of sweet-meats. Sounds good to us.

Eid Mubarak.

Picture courtesy of tania ho’s flickr stream.

Last Updated 11 October 2007