Lockdown: Celebrating Eid

Chris Rimell
Accord Equality
Published in
4 min readAug 4, 2020

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By Sheeba Hamid

Hello everyone,

I hope you’re all keeping well and have transitioned well into your new home working routines. It’s been an interesting few months, and not without its challenges as many of us have had to learn to adapt to a completely new way of working. During this time, Muslims have celebrated two Eid’s: Eid-ul-Fitr marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, and Eid-ul-Adha following the annual pilgrimage of Hajj to Mecca made by over 2 million Muslims a year. Eid-ul-Adha also marks the biblical story of Abraham, who was asked by God to sacrifice his son as the ultimate expression of devotion to God.

With this in mind, everyone has needed to make their own personal sacrifices this year, with Eid no doubt being one among many others. After the disappointment of a lockdown Ei-ul-Fitr which prevented us from meeting family and friends, there was a great deal of anticipation for the much longed festivities of Eid-ul-Adha.

Unfortunately for those of us celebrating in a number of areas across the North of England, a last-minute announcement of the tightening of restrictions by the government meant many carefully made plans had to be hastily rearranged to be complaint with new guidelines. A ban on two households meeting within private residences and in restaurants presented its own challenges on how to still make the most of the day, now without the usual cheer of family and friends.

For me, the celebrations began with a family lunch. Eid is the one time where families will go to great lengths to prepare a large selection of food - from samosas and onion bhajis to big pots of biryani and traditional Asian desserts. It’s also an opportunity to wear new clothes, exchange gifts and give money to children and charity. A bit like Christmas but with a few extra spices!

With the new restrictions in place, we were still able to venture out within our own household. So after lunch me and my family took some exercise - visiting the local beauty spot called Castle Hill in Huddersfield.

Credit: Castle Hill by Richard Harvey — Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

For those of you who don’t know, Huddersfield folk are very fond and proud of this — quite literally a castle on a hill! Its vantage point and location provide a stunning 360-degree view across the whole of Huddersfield, its surrounding areas and out to the Pennines. As it was a clear and sunny day, it was ideal for a much needed afternoon walk to work off some of our Eid lunch.

Usually on Eid, as we’re so caught up with meeting family and friends, wishing Eid Mubarak to loved ones abroad is often left to quick WhatsApp messages and the sharing of a few photos of everyone in their new clothes. This year with those abroad also affected, we took the opportunity to hold an international Zoom call with family across Australia, Pakistan, UAE, Europe, the UK and America — all joining for a truly global Eid.

Whilst neither Eid this year may have been what we were hoping for, I can’t help feeling that it’s given us a different perspective. And I think we’re much better off as a result.

What a blessing to actually sit down and share the joy of Eid with our nearest and dearest with whom we’d normally never make time for during the celebrations (though our attempts to end the day by playing an international game of Ludo across Zoom descended into chaos!)

I guess this is what it comes down to… the pandemic may have abruptly changed our lives for the foreseeable future, but we’re lucky to share the world with our loved ones, especially as there are so many among us who have lost loved ones to the virus already. Our own health, and the health of our families is important, and we should do what we can to prevent the further pain of loss.

For my family, and many like me, it’s allowed us to spend time and connect with one another in a way we don’t normally get to. It hasn’t been easy being separated from loved ones, and no doubt it’s really tested everyone’s patience at times, but we’re coming through it. We just need to keep following all the relevant guidance, keeping our distance, wearing masks when we’re told to do so (unless we can’t for reasons of health or disability), and continue isolating when we’re ill. If we do all of these things (and of course many others), we’ll have much to look forward to despite the current difficulties.

On that note, I hope you all have a lovely week and manage to enjoy the warmer weather.

Stay safe everyone,

Sheeba.

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Chris Rimell
Accord Equality

Author // Accord Equality, Diversity & Inclusion officer // Accord Assistant Secretary // accord-myunion.org