Eid al-Fitr in Barbados is different – it’s celebration, prayer, family, friends, food, and fun, plus sun, sand and sea.
Amir Juman chatted with Loop News about what he loves about Eid al-Fitr and what it means to him.
we don’t have to know you to say ‘Hello!’, we just say, ‘Hi! Wuh gine on? How tings?’ In Arabic, we would say, As-salamu alaykum
Surrounded by family and community, it was witty banter between him and his dad, it was him helping his daughter pick a drink from the pop-up Agape Bubble Tea shop on site and lots of food and laughter after a morning of prayer.
After starting with prayer around the 7am, the Muslims numbering over 800 at this year’s festivities in Lowlands, Christ Church, picked up their prayer mats and continued exchanging gifts including smiles as they celebrated the start of this new month after the last month of Ramadan.
Asked what makes Eid al-Fitr in Barbados different, Juman said:
“Barbados itself is the most Eastern in the Caribbean. So we’re on our own separate border by ourselves. So how we do things is really like welcoming, you know the Bajan cheer, the Bajan hospitality. So we don’t have to know you to say ‘Hello!’, we just say, ‘Hi! Wuh gine on? How tings?’ In Arabic, we would say, As-salamu alaykum… and that goes for anybody irregardless of your background, your position, your condition, your culture, ethnicity, anything at all. So the Barbadian warmth mixed with Islam is a very beautiful, beautiful thing.”
The children enjoyed the tradition of including jumping tents and horseback riding at the festivities. There was plenty food, water and drinks, as well as snacks. The old and the young or young at heart all intermingled. Some exchanged gifts, while others took photos because for Eid, most Muslims wear their newest or their finest garments.
Minister Colin Jordan, with responsibility for Ecclesiastical Affairs was also in attendance at the celebration outside the Darul Fazal mosque in Lowlands, Christ Church, opposite the Amirs Chicken Plant.
