What is it like to celebrate Eid at Oxford?
Eid is an important religious holiday that is celebrated by Muslim communities the world over. It signifies the end of Sawm, the holy month of fasting, and is traditionally celebrated along with family and friends.
Many people find themselves away from friends and family during this time, and often make alternative arrangements to celebrate the day in a new setting. We speak to three Oxford students about what it is like to celebrate Eid in Oxford, and how the community here celebrates too.
Aishah Prastowo
What is it like celebrating Eid in Oxford?
I have celebrated Eid several times in Oxford since 2014. At first I was worried about celebrating Eid away from my family, but it turned out that Eid in Oxford has its own charms, and even has more of a “festive” feeling compared to back home in Indonesia. The festivities usually last several days, and some Muslim communities across Oxford, including the Oxford University Islamic Society, usually hold their own parties, which are open to everyone.
What do you do to celebrate the day?
The first Eid I spent in Oxford, I joined the congregational prayer at a park in Oxford Spires Academy. After prayer, the area turned into a family festival with bouncy castle, barbecue, ice cream truck, and cake sales. Sometimes I attend prayer at a mosque too, either the one on Manzil way or the new Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies building. Usually in the afternoon, I attend a gathering with other Indonesian students where we prepare and share food we usually have for Eid back home, such as lontong (rice cake), opor ayam (chicken in white coconut milk curry), beef rendang, chicken satay, and also some traditional biscuits and cakes.
How is it different from celebrating at home?
In Indonesia the celebration is very family oriented — many people go back to their hometown (hence the massive traffic jams!) and celebrate Eid with their extended family. Apart from the presence of my family, one thing I missed when celebrating Eid here in Oxford is the pocket money given by aunts and uncles we visited when I was a child. Now I am the one who prepare gifts for my friends’ kids!
Fozia Parveen
What is it like celebrating Eid in Oxford?
I have spent three Eid ul Fitr in Oxford now and they have all been special for me. In Pakistan we don’t go the mosque for Eid prayers and we could here so that was new and nice. Here is a picture of Chandraat, which we celebrated with friends of all faiths and nations last year:
What is the main focus of Eid for you?
Eid is when Muslims from all around the world fast in the month of Ramadan from the lunar calendar and then celebrate at the end of the month. The idea behind fasting is to be able to refrain from things that we shouldn’t be doing and focus on becoming a better human, and attaching less importance to material aspects of life.
Faryal Amir
What is it like celebrating Eid in Oxford?
Eid in Oxford means celebrating friendships instead of family, home away from home. But that’s the true spirit of Eid. It brings you closer to a diverse array of people and you come to appreciate just how many cultures and people follow what you follow, and believe in what you believe, despite being very different to you or even practising in a manner different to you. I think it all adds to the beauty of Islam, because it’s the intention that counts more than whether you are all the same.
Eid at home means a hectic last fast, with a cleaning day: from dusting to hoovering to moving all furniture to making your home spotless and pre-cooking grand dishes for the guests that come on Eid. In fact, it’s understood and expected people will visit without a warning, so the houses are decorated, and new bedspreads, table cloths, curtains and dishes are laid out. New culturally traditional clothes are bought and worn, one for each day with matching shoes, earrings, and bangles.
I did nothing of the sort in Oxford, I didn’t feel the need to. I dressed up in one of my better, new kurtas I had brought from home and decided it was the people that make the Eid, not the materials.
You realise very little matters when you’re away from home, but you also find yourself surprisingly okay with it, you find a new family, new people to celebrate with you transiently and that’s what Eid in oxford is: looking out for each other and making up for the lack of each others’ families.
How does it differ from celebrating Eid at home?
So many people, students and their families, international and home students who are unable to go home for one reason or the other, find themselves in Oxford. I cannot lie and say Eid here is just as it is back home, it feels like a relatively normal day. Eid means spending time with your family and those you don’t see that often. Around Eid you find time to see them, renew your relationships and exchange gifts and food — some of the recipes for which I have included below!
Of course Eid in a Muslim country is very different. I remember from my childhood, the last ten days of Ramazan were usually spent shopping in the day and worshipping late into the night, whilst keeping up with our school work like exhausted zombies! Things tended to slow down, teachers became more lenient, the city would sleep in till late, and because everybody was slow you didn’t feel like you were lagging behind or had to catch up. But Eid here is unforgettable in a different sense.
I was unable to go home last year for Eid as I had labs — and while I could possibly have taken a day off, I did not want to have to catch up. My sister had also left for her year abroad in Australia so my family felt incomplete. However, Oxford Islamic Society formed such a strong, well-oiled Ramazan community in Oxford, from fasting to arranging Iftaar meals with generous volunteers, that I was happy to share my Eid with them here.
How do you celebrate Eid here?
A group was set up to arrange for Eid decorations, food and logistics in the prayer room that I was a part of. On Eid day, I dressed up, went to labs in my Asian fusion kurta letting everybody know I had somewhere to be and I would take my leave at half day.
At the prayer room, the preparations were already underway. I was in charge of arranging food, the highlight of Eid really. That equalled a lot of stress, but believe you me, God works miracles. A very kind man from a popular, independent café in Oxford donated kebabs to our iftaar meal — he said he would donate whatever we wanted from the Moroccan menu at his restaurant! He, and Aya, a mother of two, donated paratha rolls and fattoush, whilst others donated sweet dishes and cakes.
We set up stalls on the floor in different areas of the tiny prayer room, one with face paint for kids, another for henna, another with board games and cards. The best part was the spirit in the room and how each of us followed through on our commitment to this Ramzan community. I spoke to people I wouldn’t normally have spoken to, I made friends with kids running around and adding life to the event — it was a beautiful sight. Only about forty people turned up, but they were really happy about the event.
A message of thanks received after an Eid event Faryal helped organise:
“I was just going to message you, thanking you, for organising the Eid party. It was really great mashallah and genuinely a very important and blessed event to put on. I think everyone who attended enjoyed it, and it’s really important for people who couldn’t be at home. Lovely to have so many kids and families turn out, felt like a lovely community and really captured the spirit of Eid! Congratulations, and thanks for clearing up and setting up too — you ladies really did the bulk of the work. We couldn’t have done the iftars without without you so thanks again.”
What would your perfect Eid in Oxford look like?
If I were given a second chance at Eid in Oxford without anything on my timetable I might attend morning Eid prayers with the wider Oxford community, help to arrange another Eid event, and maybe arrange something with my friends such as going to Blenheim Palace, St Mary’s Church tower, or having a picnic in the botanical gardens. I may also organise a meal out for my friends, or try my hand at a sweet dish recipe borrowed from my Mother — and ring my family after dressing up in my best clothes so I can get compliments!
There tends to be an Eid festival in Oxford a few weeks after Eid. The surrounding communities come together and sets up stalls selling imported clothes and brands, henna parlours, charity drives, food stalls etc. It is worth attending especially for the food. Food does star in quite a lot of the aspects of our life!
You mention that food plays a big role in the celebrations. Do you have any special recipes you could share with us?
Aya’s Refreshing Fattoush
Finely chop lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, a little onion and mix. Cut a loaf of bread into small squares and fry it until crispy. Top the salad with the bread, and drizzle on pomegranate molasses, ground dried mint and red pepper.
My Mother’s Sawaiyaa (sweet vermicelli)
Crush half of a bag of vermicelli in its bag with your hand. Boil a litre of milk and add 4–5 green cardamom pods. Cook the milk down until it becomes creamy at the top, then stir in 3–4 tablespoons of sugar. Now add the crushed vermicelli and let it boil for 5 minutes. Stir, adjust sugar to taste, and remove from the heat. Let it cool a little for five minutes and sprinkle over chopped almonds and pistachios — you can even use walnuts if you like.
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