Muslim

Id

India is the home of innumerable faiths, religion and cultural diversity.The sizeable Muslim communities have Id in common with Muslims across the world. Idu’l Fitr, Idu’l Zuha and Id-i-Milad are the three festive occasions widely celebrated by Muslims in India.
Id is celebrated with great enthusiasm all over the country.

Muslims, attired in new clothes, visit mosques to offer namaaz. The tombs of many Sufi saints attract devotees of all religious persuasion, especially during the urs or death anniversaries.

ID-UL-FITR (Ramzan Id)

Coming with the new moon, this festival marks the end of Ramzan, the ninth month of the Muslim year. The holy Koran was discovered in this month. Muslims keep a fast every day, during this month. On the completion of the period, determined by the appearance of the new moon, Id-ul-Fitr is celebrated with great éclat. Prayers are offered in mosques and Idgahs

ID-UL-AZHA or ID-UL-ZUHA (Bakr-Id)(6th March)

Id-ul-Azha honors the tribulation of Hazrat Ibrahim, who had been put to a difficult test by God. He was asked to sacrifice something, that was dearest to him and he decided to sacrifice the life of his son. Just before the ordeal, God revealed that it was meant to test his faith. Apparently. He was told to sacrifice a ram in the name of Allah. This is celebrated on the tenth day of Zilhijja, when the Haj celebrations at Mecca are rounded off by the sacrifice of goats or camels. In India, too, goats and sheep are sacrificed all over the country. Prayers are offered on this day.

ID-I-MILAD (Barah-wafat)

The Prophet was born on the twelfth day of Rabi-ul-Awwal, the third month of the Muslim year. His death anniversary also falls on the same day, the word ‘barah’ standing for the twelve days of the Prophet’s sickness. During these days, well-read men, focusing on the life and noble deeds of the Prophet, deliver sermons in mosques.In some parts of the country, a ceremony known as ‘sandal ‘rite is carried out over the symbolic footprints of the Prophet engraved in stone. The belief is that the Prophet ascended to the heaven on a horse, represented as ‘buraq’. It is placed near the footprints, smeared with sandal paste/ scented powder.

Elegies or ‘marsiyas’ are sung in memory of the last days of the Prophet. The twelfth day or the Urs proper is observed quietly, in prayers and alms giving.

MUHARRAM

Muharram is not an event in the festive sense since it mourns the Karbala tragedy, when Imam Husain, grandson of Prophet Muhammad, was martyred in the early days of Islamic history. It is observed in different ways in various parts of India.

Generously decorated taziyas (bamboo and paper replicas of the martyr’s tomb), embroidered with gilt and mica are carried throughout city streets. Mourners beat their breasts lamenting and grieving over the murder, accompanied by drumbeats. Wrestlers and dancers enact scenes depicting the battle at Karbala and on each step young men beat their breasts crying “Husain! Husain!” in combined mourning. This tragedy is observed with great passion in Lucknow, in particular, as it is the centre of Shia culture and religious activities. A large number of taziyas and the alams (standards of Hazrat Imam Hussain’s army) are taken out all over the city. In places other than Lucknow, the taziyas are taken out and buried in the local burial ground known as the Karbala.