Celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr in its true spirit

The Eid-ul Fitr, the biggest annual festival of the Muslims, will be celebrated throughout the country tomorrow or a day after it, depending on the sighting of the moon. After a month-long fasting and abstinence from mundane pleasures, the Eid brings the messages of pure joy and pleasure for the Muslims. It is an occasion of renewing social bonds after going through an spiritual experience, thanks to the month-long fasting. Thus the Eid helps in bringing about amity, harmony and unity among people of all strata of society. It is a festival with a difference. It has a definite purpose, a norm to convey and a lesson to teach.
People in thousands have already left the capital city as well as other divisional and district headquarters for their village homes to reunite with their near and dear ones and join in the festivities of the Eid together. Shopping centres and arcades in the capital and elsewhere have witnessed people from all walks of life, young and old, turning up to buy clothes and gifts for the dear ones on the occasion. Traffic jams and home-goers' scramble for buying tickets for journeys home -- a usual feature on the occasion of every Eid - have failed to dampen their enthusiasm and high spirit.  
The Eid day is also an occasion for the Muslims to forget the rancour of the past, shed away ill-feelings and hostility towards others and embrace all, after saying prayers in congregations. So, this solemn occasion is not merely a day of feast and entertainment. It is also the day of moral and spiritual evocation. In the present-day context, there is a strong need for self-introspection on this occasion for the Muslims everywhere. There can be no Eid or any festival of its kind in Islam without upholding the cause of unity of mankind under one banner -- the universal brotherhood of man -- with no distinction between black and white, rich and poor, wise and ignorant. The difference between the haves and the have-nots does also make no sense if the true spirit of the Eid is to be adhered to.
Hence, feeding the hungry and catering to the needs of the poverty-stricken multitude assume a great deal of importance for celebration of such an occasion in its true spirit. Unfortunately, the real spirit of this festival is often found to be ignored and the Eid is sought to be celebrated in a more ritualistic manner by a section of the people. The day-to-day happenings in a number of countries where the Muslim populations are predominant, do bear out this. Thus senseless clashes and rivalries are happening in Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan and some other Muslim-dominated countries. And all such incidents are taking place in the name of Islam, albeit running counter to what it (Islam) really teaches its faithful about remaining sensible and tolerant and showing understanding. In this context, the Eid-ul-Fitr provides the Muslims with an opportunity for soul-searching.
On this day of reunion, the members of the Muslim community need to ask themselves if they are following the true path of Islam -- the faith of peace and tolerance. Talking of tolerance and patience, it must be admitted that all concerned in Bangladesh do in particular need to exercise more of such gifts of character during the Eid.