Observing Eid Al-Fiter In Taiz [Archives:1999/03/Last Page]

After a long spiritual journey of fasting during the holy month of Ramadhan, people wait happily for Eid. It is time to say good-bye!
Celebrating Eid is something nice and joyful. There are common rituals in people’s celebration of Eid all over the country. However, each city has its own style and ways to prepare for this event. Let me tell you some interesting things about eid celebration in Taiz.
As Ramadhan is just coming to a grand finish, Taiz becomes congested with a good number of people and cars. It is really difficult to walk in the streets these days. People are coming from all around villages for buying their Eid needs. Others are leaving to spend their Eid holiday in their villages.
Preparing for Eid
During the last few days of Ramadhan, women start making Eid cakes and cookies to be served to guests during Eid. Everything is preferred to be home made, but it is okay to buy some chocolates. Female youngsters and children start embroidering and stinging their hands and feet with henna. They have their hair dressed and put on make up.

Of course, all family members buy new clothing and this makes Eid something very special.
People, especially children, don’t sleep the night preceding the first day of Shawal (Eid). Early on the morning men and boys go for Eid communal prayers. There, children play with fire crackers to show their nice feeling in this event. Men visit their relatives, especially women, and give them their Owada (amount of money given by men to their relatives in Eid). On the other hand, women offer them cakes, cookies, nuts, and some sweets. In the afternoon, members of a one family ( married sons and daughters) gather in their father’s house. They usually chew qat. Young girls sit together, listen to music and dance.
Crowd in Villages
The same thing takes place in villages, of course with some differences. Taiz villages become lively since many people leave towns and go to spend Eid holiday there. This makes Eid has a special taste in villages. Eid is a good chance for family reunion. Not only that, people working outside the country visit their families and friends during Eid too.
Since most of the people in the villages have guns, they carry them during Eid with them wherever they go. They shoot at marked goals just for fun. Men are to meet in the afternoons in qat sessions.
Celebrating Eid usually lasts for 3 days, sometimes 4 or 5 days. The first day is the most joyous day. In the second day, people visit their relatives in far-off areas. Something very nice about Eid is that people forget misunderstandings and problems.
In the past, people used to meet at some place. They go together with bearing dumb to greet sheikh of their village. Sometimes, they used to give him money. Although this phenomenon has begun to wither away in some villages, it is still there in others.
Double Joy
Eid is a good chance for celebrating marriages or engagements, either in cities or village. So, it is a double joy. When Eid comes next time, people remember very special moments of their lives.
As I mentioned earlier that most of people leave cities for their villages. They don’t stay there only for 3 days. They have to extend their Eid holiday sometimes to ten days. It is only one chance a year, so they try to spend longer times there. This is why we have the so-called subalt Al-Eid (tail of the Eid), meaning extending the holiday of the Eid to more than the time specified by the Ministry of Civil Service. This happens not merely to Taiz, but also in other governorates. So if one visit the city of Taiz three days after the Eid, he will find the streets more or less empty. This makes the original inhabitants of the city, most of them are remnants of the Turkish colonist, unable to feel the excessive joy of the Eid. I talked to some of them about Eid festivals. They told me that life in the city during the Eid days becomes a little bit boring and dull because most of the residents of Taiz go to their villages. However, they try to enjoy themselves by visiting some beautiful places in Taiz like Al-Dabab and Al-barakani valleys, Mocha, or Sabir mountain. Some of them even take their lunch and go to these places.
Is it still there?
By and large, the actual joy associated with the Eid seem to be not existed anymore. People don’t feel happy in Eid like before. Rather, Eid has become a nightmare for some poor people who can not who cannot meet Eid’s endless needs.
Is Eid Mobarak or happy Eid enough to make these people happy?!…
By: Mohammed Al-Qadhi,
Taiz Office Editor,
Yemen Times

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