Eid prayer in Germany

Anis Albasha 

A couple of days ago, one of my dearest friends from the United States asked me if the phrase ‘happy holiday’ is an appropriate English idiomatic translation of Eid Mubarak ‘which literary means blessed fest”.  My friend told me that he was thinking of a good translation for non-Muslims who had no idea what ‘Eid Mubarak’ meant. I couldn’t find a suitable translation for that phrase but I thought it might be a good idea to write about the occasion of Eid itself. As my friend said, many non-Muslims have no clue about this sacred occasion celebrated by hundreds of millions of Muslims all over the world.

From a religious perspective, Muslims celebrate two feasts throughout the year. One is Eid al-Fitr, a three-day festival marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. The second is Eid al-Adha, which takes place on the 10^th-13^th of Dhul Hijjah, the Islamic month of pilgrimage. Eid al-Adha is normally referred to as ‘the big Eid’ and it lasts for almost a week. In both occasions, the first day of Eid is considered the most important one among the rest of Eid’s days.  The word ‘Eid’ itself can be translated into English as “festivity” or “celebration”. Accordingly, the phrase ‘Eid Mubarak’ which is used by Muslims to greet each other during this occasion can be taken to mean “have a blessed feast”. This greeting is used twice by Muslims every year, during Eid al-Fitr and during Eid al-Adha.

On the first day of Eid, whether Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha, a typical Muslim family would awake so early in the morning and everyone would have a shower, put on new clothes and then go to attend a special communal prayer held in mosques or in large venues. After finishing this prayer, Muslims start visiting their relatives. People also gather with their friends. On this first day, parents have to buy some presents and candies for their children and would take them to the parks and playgrounds. Of course, in the Arabic societies, the ambiance of this occasion would be so intimate and cozy. The best description of the celebratory atmosphere of Eid in a country like Yemen as an example – before the ongoing war- can be found in the beautiful lyrics of the song about Eid sung by the Azerbaijani famous singer's Sami Yusuf:

Children are wearing new clothes
bright colors fill the streets
their faces full of laughter
their pockets full of sweets

Let us rejoice indeed

for this is the day of Eid!

Last week, after 29 consecutive days of fasting in Ramadan, Muslims celebrate the end of completion of this rite. In Europe, this religious occasion is not a nationwide public holiday. Yet, I’ve heard that some schools here in Germany give students a holiday break so that Muslim students can celebrate this occasion with their families. I am not sure about this information, but if it is true, it would be a very considerate gesture. Usually, most Muslims who live abroad are not able to get the real essence of Eid. But this time the first day of Eid al-Fitr for this year coincided with Sunday. As a result, Muslims in Europe had the opportunity to gather and to celebrate the first day of Eid al-Fitr without having any work/study commitments. Otherwise, the first day of Eid would be like any other normal day and it would be difficult for those who wanted to celebrate this occasion and practice some of its special rites, such as the communal prayer in the early morning. 

Since it was a holiday, I decided to take my son and go to Hamburg in order to do the special congregational Prayer of Eid al-Fitr. On our way to the venue of the prayer, we saw many people heading to the same place. I realized the destination of those people from the clothes they wore. Most men put on long white robes while some women were covered from the top to the bottom. When we arrived, the way which leads to the prayer venue was full of people and children who were marching towards a big sport hall rented for the ceremony of this day. Though there were hundreds of people who were flowing and gathering at that venue, there was no security presence around or even near the area. To my surprise, there were no police cars, police patrols or even ambulances. In a country like Germany, this sounded unusual, especially at such a time where racist incidents and attacks against Muslims are increasing. Just few days ago, one person died and 11 were injured after a van was driven into a crowd of Muslim worshipers in Finsbury Park, in north London. So, giving the fact that during any gathering in Germany, police, ambulance and fire vehicles must be always there, the no-security presence on that day was so incomprehensible .

I started to feel a little bit restless, especially when I noticed the intensive presence of

children insides and outside the hall. But I tried not to think about that and I made my way into the arena. At the entrance of the sport hall, a group of young people was standing there and trying to organize the entry process. Those young men gave the worshipers plastic bags to put their shoes in and they also give prayer rugs for those who did not bring any. Though I didn’t like the design of those prayer rugs, I very much liked the idea of distributing them. I took two rugs one for me and the other for my son who was so happy to get his own prayer rug. We entered the spacious hall which was almost full of people who chanted and shouted the usual religious prayers and supplications of this occasion. The hall was divided into two parts, one for men and the other for women. The two sections were divided by small improvised portable columns made of plastic. Children were moving freely from one place to another while some people climbed to the top floor and sat on the terrace which overlooks the square.  

Once we walked into the hall, we were received by very loud voices which were resonated strongly inside the closed hall. In fact, those voices were so high that my son had to cover his ears. Though I understand the enthusiasm of Muslims in such important religious events, especially those who live abroad, I wished if we Muslims could keep it quiet sometimes. Due to all the hustle and bustle produced by the adults as well as by the wailing and crying children, the place has turned into a popular market in an Arabic country. I always wonder why we Muslims tend to be loud during our religious or social events. Setting in that hall with my son, I wondered why didn’t people sit gently and recite the prayers quietly in a way that helps us to transcend. Because of that noisy ambiance, I wanted to do the Eid’s prayer as fast as possible so I could leave the hall.  

After finishing the prayer I got up and took my way out. The weather was cloudy with scattered showers from time to another. But overall, the weather was nice and it was not hot although it is officially summertime. When we went out, some young men were standing at the entrance and give people, whether they were adults or children, some sweets. Distributing sweets and candies is a common tradition in all Arabic countries during Eid, especially for children. Seeing those children in their new colorful clothes with candies in their hands made me think again of Sami Yusuf's song about Eid. I took some photos and then we went to a playground close to Hamburg haven where my son played with other kids for a while and after that we went back home.

All in all, celebrating Eid with family and friends has a different taste. But it was a nice day in Hamburg for me and for my son who attended this ceremony for the first time in Germany. When we arrived home, there was a real surprise waiting for us. Though she was busy with the her travel preparation to attend a seminar on the very next day, my wife made for us a Yemeni traditional lunch. We all sat on the ground as we used to do in Yemen and ate our local dishes while watching the TV. Actually, whether we find a good translation for the phrase “Eid Mubarak” or not, and whether Eid coincides a holiday or comes on a regular day, Eid will always be a blessed and a nice occasion for all Muslims around the world. So when you meet a Muslim and you want to greet him on this special occasion, just say "Eid Mubarak"!

Life between drama and reality

Rasha Almaqaleh 

A couple of years ago, my husband and I decided to spend our baby moon in India. The top factor which influenced our destination choice was Bollywood. We expected to see a place like the one we see in Bollywood movies, especially those scenes in which the movie star and his sweetheart all of a sudden start jumping, dancing and  singing in the arms of nature or in the middle of wonderful gardens. Everything around them is just charming!

This kind of scenes strongly clouded our judgment when we came to choose a destination for our first trip outside Yemen as a married couple and expecting parents. We chose India: the country where every house simply overlooks a marvelous garden, or that’s what we absurdly expected!

We arrived in Hyderabad international airport and left the airport in a Taxi. All the way to the hotel, we were just thunderstruck! The question that was spinning in my head as I saw smokes rising from straw huts on the way to the hotel : "Did I pass all those miles to find myself in Yemen again?! Those straw smoky huts reminded me of my hometown, Hudaida. It was a very similar scene that I used to see where I was born and raised, where people use smokes in a desperate attempt to keep the mosquitoes away.

A couple of days later, it became clear that India has a similar chaos to what we have in Yemen: crowded streets, free-roaming animals, beggars, etc. With the bedbugs in the hotel and the hundreds of cockroaches in the train, our earlier vision of a holiday in a paradise was rapidly evaporating.

After spending three weeks in India traveling from one city to another in pursuit of a make-you-dance place, we finally found it in Ramoji film city! It is a city where films are shot and that’s why it was like a heaven; green with empty clean streets just like what we watched in Indian movies.

After that trip to India, I became very careful in interpreting what I watch on TV and I figured a different way to analyze it. I have come to realize that drama doesn’t necessarily mirror real life. It is not always a reflection of what is going on in the society; rather it says loads about what is not! When drama focuses always on a specific element, that means it is missing in real life. That’s when writers and directors come to tickle viewer's imagination of the things that they hope to see in their daily life.

American drama is also another example of how reality separates from drama. We find that stories of horror, action and crime occupy a large area that one might think that the American society lives in constant thrill and every motel is certainly an ideal place for a real horror story!

Science fiction is also an accurate indicator of what is missing in a society. If you watch ‘Person of Interest’, which is a science fiction crime drama that takes place in New York City. The scenes of the TV series include a lot of violence; street fighting and heavy exchange of fire even in police stations. It also shows the police as unreliable corrupt force.

In reality, “the crime rate has fallen in New York City since the mid-1990s, and the violence rate is below average for large cities.” In addition, according to the Economist's 2015 ranking of 50 major cities in the world, New York ranked 10th the world's safest and the twenty-eighth most secure in terms of personal safety", as reported by Wikipedia!

This was really inspiring and made me wonder: what if we in Yemen wanted to make a science fiction movie or a series, what would be our ‘fiction’?  Our greatest fiction would be a world with reliable non-corrupt cops, where law enforcement existed along with clean and beautiful streets where people go to work and students to their schools without any fear of bombs or war planes! The climax of such science fiction story would be opening the tap and getting running water or going to the hospital and receiving decent medical care. 

Overall, if you watch an American movie that focuses on violence and crime, be sure that Americans have a quiet life or maybe a bit boring. And if you see Turks highlight in their drama love and affection, you should wonder whether they suffer from ‘emotional drought’ in their reality. And if you see a Yemeni film that focuses on a life with no power cuts, rest assured that the reality is about a society steeped in darkness!