EID PHOTO DIARY

This Ramadan was truly wonderful. Al hamdulillah (All praise is for Allah). I am blessed to be so close to a very beautiful masjid, I feel my heart is drawn to it and the recitation of the imam. I always call it my mosque therapy. :) I am also greatful that I am in country with many Muslims.

Al hamdulillah. This post is a little different from my normal style, but I wanted to share a photo diary of my Eid celebration this year. Eid is a three day celebration marking the end of Ramadan and a month of fasting. While we Muslims usually feel sadness in our hearts that Ramadan is finished for yet another year, we look forward to the joy and festive atmosphere of Eid.

On the morning of Eid, early morning that is, just after sunrise, me and a few friends of mine (ladies of course) took a short ten minute walk to the Malik Faisal Masjid to attend Eid prayer. We were not alone. Hundreds if people poured onto the streets from their tall apartment buildings and headed toward the mosque...all of us repeated phrases filled with the remembrance of God.

Now, this day is truly special and I really look forward to it, not only because it is Eid but because there are so many people going to do their prayers that there is not enough parking. There are so many people going to do their prayers, they literally have to stop their cars in the middle of the street, and jump out to join the prayer. I just love it! It's like a scene from a Stephen King movie...only not scary. The concept that so early in the morning, thousands of people all come together to pray and thank Allah for the blessing He has given us all. So this year I came prepared and took some pictures of cars... :) (I couldn't help it)

This was taken in Sharjah, UAE at about 6 am on the morning of Eid.

We are getting closer to the mosque...SubhanAllah I just love how there are so many people. I am so blessed to be in this country.

This is right after the prayer finished...you can see only a fraction of how many people were there. Most of the people are still sitting in their places to listen to the khutba (lecture) after the prayer.

Walking away from the masjid I pass all the empty cars filling the street. Everyone just stopped and got out to pray...

Looking back at the masjid standing in the street. Even if you are in your car...you can't go anywhere yet!

After Eid prayer we went for coffee (of course, my favorite) and then went to have lunch with some sisters at the Islamic Center in Jumeira. We went to the beach a few mintues before sunset to enjoy the water, sand, starfish, and crabs...hehe. There are lots of different types of people at the beach...I am free to dress however I choose as is everyone else. Of course, I choose to cover pretty conservatively. :) But the tourists are enjoying life just as much as I am, hey wait..I'm still considered to be a tourist too :)

The sunset...(cant have beach pictures without a sunset)

SubhanAllah, this is a gorgeous picture of a masjid in Jumeira. After sunset I prayed my maghrib prayer here. Al hamdulillah...so beautiful...

Well, I hope you enjoyed it. I did! Al hamdulillah. Of course later I went home and ate pizza, and made cherry coke and shirley temples...what can I say...it was pretty yummy. Al hamdulillahir Rabil Alamin!