Asalaamu Alaykum, Greeting you with Peace,
I have officially been Muslim now for over 5 years now. I have had many amazing experiences, many horrible experiences and MANY, MANY unmemorable moments over these past 5 years. However, this Eid Al-Adha was the first time I really felt like the “Eid” holiday was indeed a holiday.
It might sound strange, but it is difficult coming from a family that celebrated Christmas with all of it’s gifts, it’s amicable season, it’s related events, and it’s cultural prevalence. The same can be said about Halloween and Easter. It is difficult because, in all honesty I have never really felt like our two holidays in Islam “Eid al-Fitr” and “Eid al’Adha” were indeed holidays. They usually just consisted of me waking up, going to the mosque in the morning for prayer and maybe meeting up with a friends family for food.
This year for Eid al-Adha, Convert Connection and Chicago Muslim Convert hosted a central Eid prayer place with events to follow. We met for prayer at DIC where I entered to the beautiful sounds of some of best friends (Will, Nate, and Ryan) leading the “Takbirat” ( a chant like remembrance of God). We prayed and had a good khutba or sermon about the life and legacy of Abraham (Arabic- Ibrahim) since this holiday is dedicated in his honor, peace be upon him. I saw so many faces I hadn’t seen in such a long time welcoming with such large smiles and big hugs. That is the way we Muslims roll 
After prayer, we went to brunch at a local restaurant and had about 25 people join us. Brunch was nice and was filled with sincere and intriguing conversation. After we ate, we prayed dhuhr or prayer #2 of the day right in front of Trump Tower. Then we got our bowl on. We went bowling and all showed off our “impeccable” bowling skills. We had some unexpected people join us for bowling and it was so wonderful to have their company.
My wife and I ended the day by visiting her parents and going out for a meal. It was so great to finally feel like this was a holiday. Of course, the purpose of our holidays are worship, but it certainly feels good to be able to place this holiday in my “most memorable moments” box!
I strongly encourage all Muslims to find a way to make our holidays meaningful beyond just going to prayer. Perhaps we can spend the rest of the day with our family, go out to a dinner, go do something fun. Whatever it may be, it is crucial that our holidays feel like holidays. I am so grateful for being able to share this experience with all of the people I was able to this year and pray that I will make it to the next year.
Until next time, peace….
(You can read more pieces from our community members @ the Our Voices page)
Thank you Mike for sharing your experience! I am so grateful for this community with whom we can celebrate the Eid’s in a manner that seems more in line with our cultural norms. I didn’t feel like an outsider on this holiday (well, haha, except for the cute girl who wanted a pic with the white girls at the mosque
– I simply felt like a Muslim celebrating the holiday. And as simple as that sounds, I think it is an incredible feat. I love all our wonderful friends and am so incredibly grateful and proud of this support network. Thank you all for allowing me to share this beautiful holiday with you!