Eid & my tea party

Happy Eid Mubarak and thank you for sharing your tradition, it sounds delightful.

Wow. Dinner from 7 in the morning until 9 at night. I could go for this holiday :O)

(Just kidding. I knew what you meant, and even I could not stand a fourteen-hour dinner ;O)

Thank you, Ripon, and the same to you. Enjoy your holiday. Happiness and blessings to you.

Happy Eid Mubarak, Ripon! Thank you for the description- I'm salivating.

It sounds wonderful, Ripon! I hope you have help preparing all that food! Our Thanksgiving holiday is coming up this week, and just making one big dinner (turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, vegetables, apple pie) is enough work for me. I haven't even thought of what teas we should have. Happy Eid Mubarak!

Agalena

Thanks for your wishes guys. Sorry for the typing mistake-

DINNER-from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

Ripon (From Bangladesh)

Being a Muslim myself, I felt compelled to comment on some things, as well as add the traditions of my part of the world.

I spent one Ramadan not fasting because I was so sick and in the hospital. I'm sorry that you aren't fasting this year and I hope that inshallah you will be able to fast the next one.

For those of you who don't know: the only people exempt from fasting are those that are too sick, or travelling. And even these people need to either fast another time of the year or pay to feed other people. The spirit of Ramadan is of restraining yourself from this world so you can focus on the spiritual matters.

Also, the fast goes from sunup to sundown, and in in the winter months it is only from 5 to 5, but in the summer months it can go from 4am to 10pm (at least in the area where I live). Muslims live their lives by the sun and the moon and not so much by the clock. :)

Ramadan moves back about 10 days every year because Ramadan is a month of the lunar year, which is about 10 days shorter than the solar year. So, in about 36 years or so, Eid will once again be right around Thanksgiving. :)

During Ramadan

It was the practice of Muhammad (saws) not to eat anything before the Eid prayer, so he would fast untill Eid was formally announced with the prayer. We have no breakfast at my house, but we all gather together for an early lunch that has so far included varieties of Darjeelings and Assams. There is also *gasp* coffee, but most people in my family prefer tea. :) Last year we had a good time going out and having bubble tea for the first time.

We thought about having another meal at this time, but usually the one from before is still going on. My family tends to have long meals during Eid where there are many many courses and people sit around the dinner table enjoying foods in little bites and catching up. Last year my Eid gathering had 4 different families with many kids. Kids favorite foods were the finger foods that they could come to the table and pop in their mouth and go on their merry way. Also last year we decided to let the kids have some tea so a special tea set was purchased with smaller size cups which were very wide to let the tea cool faster for them. They enjoyed it very much.

I don't know why you serve pork to Muslims. Pork is forbidden. There are several places in the Qur'an which explicitly forbid it. Perhaps it was a typo?

By this time, people in my family have had some 10 courses (if not more) all made by different people all served during the same dinner. Each course gets enough time by itself so that it can be enjoyed. The only times we go away form the table is to do prayers together, which in itself is a magnificent sight. We move all the furniture to the sides and there are rows of people all standing in worship. Even the kids, which are usually roaming around between the rows are invited to stand in prayer. Last year those that had too much tea were kind of bouncy (I guess the caffeine and the suggar) but they did a good job of appearing for all the prayers.

I know what you mean by being separated from your family. When I went away to college I never had the oppurtunity to take enough time of for Eid to go visit my family. I used to make it up to myself by wearing my Eid clothes to class and work and then going to dinner at my friends houses once I was done with my work day. :) In the latter years, I've gotten a little bit bolder with my bosses and I try to schedule vacation days right around Eid so that I can have enough time to cook and buy presents. It's been wonderful. I should tell you guys that thanks to this news group several of my friends and family are getting gifts of tea.

Thank you for sharing your traditions, and Eid Mubarak,

-= me =-

I started this paragraph and then got distracted, so let me finish it:

During Ramadan my husband and I wake up around 4:00 am so that we have enough time for a good meal before fasting. I usually have something prepared from the night before or have something in the oven that has been slowly baking all night. :) We also drink tea at this time, and it is usally a black tea, usually Assam or Darjeeling. Most often Assam, now that I think about it. It feels like both of us need that cup of tea before continuing on with our day. Once finished with our tea, we begin our fast. We usually go to the mosque for early morning prayers. (Muslims pray 5 times a day, first one right after dawn.)

In the evening, we break our fast with water and dates. This is a practice of Muhammad (saws) as he liked to break his fast with either of those. After evening prayers, we have a light meal and usually a green tea. Lately, it's been a China Gunpowder. :) Very nice in the evening. Then we go to the mosque for night prayers and special Ramadan prayers called Taraweeh. This can go on for several hours but it feels wonderful. Afterwards we usually go home to another cup of tea and a snack and get ready for sleep.

One thing that's occured to me during fast is how little food one needs to live on, but I've found my day lacking very much if I don't have several cups of tea. It is so nice to be able to sit down with my husband or my friends and share the experience of drinking tea.

Have a peaceful day,

-=someone=-

Thanks for your two posts. I'm wondering about the pork also, since I know that pork is strictly forbidden. The observant Moslems and Jews I know won't even have it in the house, regardless of where it has been prepared.

Perhaps the original poster got confused.

In my case, no pork or alcohol comes in my house. Also, no products with animal bi-products of pork or uncertain origin (think gelatin or glycerin) or alcohol. Usually, I have to check all the candy that any kids bring over to make sure it's ok to eat. It's amazing how many products out there have animal by-products in them. (Altoids? Dishwashing liquid? Ice-cream? Yogurt? All usually have gelatin or glycerin in them.)

Lucky for me, tea is usually fine. I've heard some of the flavoured teas (cheap kinds usually) out there having 'haram' (forbidden) ingredients, but I don't drink those anyways. :)

-=someone=-