[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]A Quarantined Eid: Sunnahs & Activities
Allah decreed that many of us stay inside our homes and rejuvenate this Ramadan. If Allah wanted, He would have lifted the lockdown everywhere. As the Kaaba and Masjid an-Nabawi remain closed to the rest of the world, Allah invites us to celebrate Eid in the best of ways with all of the safety precautions sanctioned by our local governing bodies.
Eid is Eid, even without the supererogatory Eid congregational prayer. This Eid may be different for many of us but it should remind us to forever appreciate the little things we take for granted. It should also remind us to be more inclusive to our converts whose Eids may have always been in isolation. Let us use this Eid to become close to parents we live with and may have neglected to show our love and laughter to. Let us use this Eid to focus on our children over our extended relatives and food preparations. Let us learn to have fun inside our own homes.
Let’s explore and maintain the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) this Eid.
[1] In the morning, remember to shower as was the sunnah of the Messenger (ﷺ). As you dress in nice attire, spritz some attr and groom yourselves, remind the family to do dhikr of Allah. Remember to eat a few dates! Recite the takbeer in your homes. Hug each member of the family. Give the little ones a tight squeeze!
[2] Remember to give your Zakat – Fitr! (You can do this now so that you won’t forget!) It is also known that the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) would have a special kutbah to encourage sadaqa even after the month of Ramadan. This is to show that we as Muslims were not generous in our sadaqa simply due to the reward of Ramadan, but are giving continuously.
[3] Exchange gifts! Whether it be a small gift card or hard dollar bills! Or re-gift something you haven’t opened since most of us can no longer go shopping before Eid. (Want to make this extra fun for the kids? Hide the envelope somewhere in the home! Send them on a hunt, and say “warmer” if they are getting closer, and “colder” if they are not.)
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Exchange gifts, as that will lead to increasing your love to one another.”
[Al-Bukhari]
[4] Go through your contacts and try to send each person a personalized Eid greeting. Mention a distinct memory together or a great quality about them or that you can’t wait to take them out for their favorite snack. If it’s someone you haven’t spoken to in a while, feel free to even call them up. Most people are home, so it’s time we stop the mass texts and send individual ones. It is one of the esteemed character traits of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) that he highlighted the great qualities of others and boosted the self-esteem of those around him.
[5] Take creative pictures and videos. Enough of the same old poses. Make your parents make funny faces! Have everyone wear sunglasses and look very serious. Do the personality picture, where everyone poses with their usual face. Mix it up, have each person act out another person’s quirks. Make a human pyramid with the kids. Plank in random places. Recreate a childhood photo.
[Photocredit: Boredpanda]
[6] Have fun and play! Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) would be very playful with the children of the home, especially his grandchildren, Hassan and Hussain. He would wrap themselves in a cloak, allow them to climb on him and ride on his back.
Family Activities & Games:
- Blind Man’s Buff: It’s like the game tag, but the person who is ‘it’ is blindfolded and you can poke at them just a bit before they tag you! (In Bangladesh, it’s called Kanamachi or “Blind Bee”)
- Charades: You must include the elders in this! Make them laugh by forcing them to be silly and use only movements to explain an idiom, a phrase, a country, or anything. There are tons of apps and online charade idea generators.
- Try to Draw: Have someone draw on a piece of paper on your back, while you attempt to draw what they are drawing on a piece of paper in front of you.
- Limbo: All you need is a broom or a tight rope and have members of the family go under it, without touching it, or bend forwards. Grandparents might have to sit out of this one.
- Theatre! Have the children put together a performance. Give them a theme, story or character. If you have little ones, you can get them to make a puppet show or a movie with their dolls and help them record it.
- Soccer, indoors, with a softer small ball (or roll up a few socks into a ball). If we get competitive enough, then maybe dodgeball with small sock-balls.
- Your Eid decorations should definitely include some balloons. So take a balloon, throw it up and have the family in pairs to see who can keep it up the longest but only with their head, nose, chest; anything but the hands.
- Catch Phrase: Have everyone write five or ten random words on small slips of paper without sharing. Put them in a box. Create two teams (boys vs. girls is always popular when parents are involved). One person from each team takes the box and has only 1 minute (use a phone timer), to make their teammates guess the word without saying the word. They should try to get as many slips of paper guessed as possible, but they can pass if needed. The team with the most slips of paper wins!
- “Try Not To Laugh” Gather 5 of the funniest videos you can find, and show them to your most serious family member and try to get them to laugh!
- Eat it or Wear it: Gather some things from the fridge – the yogurt, jams, garlic paste, maybe even an egg. Write the names on pieces of paper and place them in a container. In another container, write “eat it” or “wear it” in multiple pieces of paper an equal number of times. Each person takes out a piece of paper from each container and must either eat the item or wear it (maybe on their face).
- Guess the Combo: Blindfold two opponents. Make interesting and somewhat absurd combinations of food and have them have a spoon or sip of it and whoever can guess it correctly wins the round. The food combos can be ketchup and cream cheese. Mango juice and milk. Peanut butter and hummus. Get creative.
- If you have a big family, there is a whole list of improv games you can try!
- Human Table (5 People Needed): Set up four chairs in a square. The chairs need to be close enough that a person can lay backward and have their shoulders rest on another chair. Have four people sit in the chairs. They need to have their feet on the ground. Each person needs to lay backward, resting their shoulders on the legs of the person behind them. One by one, remove the chairs from under each person. Much to their amazement, everyone remains in their reclined position, despite lacking the support of the chairs. Put them back before someone collapses!
Challenge videos with other families and friends in a group chat together throughout the day:
- Spicy Ramen Challenge: Or anything spicy really. Who handles heat like a pro?
- Mannequin Challenge: Everyone in the home must be frozen in the middle of an action and one person goes around the room recording. No blinking! You’re frozen in time!
- Water Bottle Flip: let’s see how many master this. Do they all land upright? Try a weird surface.
[7] Have a virtual lunch with other family members and neighbors on any video conferencing app. Try to include any new Muslims you know. Enjoy a dessert and ask each person about their favorite Eid memory of their lifetime.
[8] Ensure your family still prays together. Keep the masjid at home alive!
[9] Go through a family album together at night over cups of coffee. Reminisce about family members that have passed away and make dua for them. Dig up the old VHS player and watch old family footage. Ask grandparents and parents who their favorite teacher or uncle was. Ask them about their wedding, or their childhood best friend, or a pet they used to have. Our families and especially our elders have so many stories and so much wisdom to share. Do we really take the opportunity to listen? Do we prefer the stories written by the industries or those actually lived by our own family? You’d be surprised to hear how many of them built schools, orphanages, and masajids.
[10] When you wind down for the night and finish your nightly adkhar, remember those displaced in the land without homes, remember the orphans without family, remember the essential workers still working, and all that Allah has truly blessed you with.
Eid is our special day where Allah tells us to enjoy glad tidings. So bring out the best decor, the best outfits, the most energy you can give!
(P.S: Give a gift for the hereafter this Eid. Give sadaqa on someone else’s behalf and leave a message for them here.)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][/vc_column][/vc_row]