TRAVEL for Eid’ul Fitr holidays started this week with Filipino Muslim faithfuls even advancing to go home for the three-day holiday which will begin on Friday (July 17).
Extended families and their clans converge in this most-awaited event, the only Islamic holiday in the Muslim calendar aside from Eid’ul Adha.
Eid’ul Fitr is celebrated in the Philippines with family get-togethers unlike other Muslim countries which have national events. Swimming pools in Iligan City, for instance, are usually filled to the rafters every Eid season.
The family of Dimple Madale-unte has a tradition in which relatives go home and pray together in the Mindanao State University grandstand during Eid. After the prayer, they pose for family pictures and have a picnic. The holiday is also an opportunity to visit relatives in the nearby towns.
Madale-unte said she and her sisters also decide on a color motif for their prayer attire.
Jaliah Sybil Mulay said every Eid she was “looking forward to pray with my aunt and her family in Masjid Nabawi. I am also excited to wear my new abaya.”
Leah Tarhata Mehila of ARMM’s Regional Economic Zone Authority said “In shaa Allah (God willing), I will be home for the Eid to join my jewels, take our kutba at MSU grandstand and have a lunch out at the MSU golf course with my sister, nephews and housemates.”