The end of Ramadan marks the beginning of one of the most important religious holidays for Muslims. And that is from Wednesday in the Netherlands. After a morning prayer, the festival is celebrated for three days with family and friends.
During these days, Muslims reflect on the month of fasting. Sweets are also served. There are more names for it in the Netherlands.
Eid al-Fitr
Within the Islamic community, the Arabic term ‘Eid al Fitr’ is the most common. ‘Eid-ul-Fitr’ is often used by non-Muslims to refer to the festival. It is also called the festival of Ramadan. But which name is correct?
According to the Contact Body for Muslims and Government (CMO), a partnership of mosques that represents the interests of Muslims in the Dutch government and politics, there is a discussion about the name every year around this time.
In any case, Muslims say Eid al Fitr. They think that ‘Eid-al-Fitr’ does not cover the full meaning of the celebration. Mohamad (38) finds the term ‘Eid-al-Fitr’ misleading. “It’s a simplification of the celebration. It suggests that we only eat sweets,” he says, “while the purpose of the celebration is to celebrate values such as tolerance, charity and thinking about others.” For Abed (29), the name doesn’t matter much. “It’s an important celebration for me,” he says, “but most of all it’s about people coming together and having a good time.”
According to chairman of the CMO, Muhsin Köktas, sugar has nothing to do with the essence of the celebration: “It is a simplification of the celebration. For Muslims it is about reflection and self-evaluation,” he says. “Eid al Fitr actually has little to do with sugar. Sugar is eaten, but that is actually just to make the children happy.”
Köktas states that the name Eid al Fitr does not give the value to the celebration that Eid al Fitr does. He would therefore like it if everyone would use that term. “That gives the right charge, it gives value.”
Where do the names come from?
The literal translation for Eid al Fitr is ‘the festival of breaking the fast’. Often only Fitr is used. It is not entirely clear where the name ‘Eid-al-Fitr’ comes from, but it could simply be that it arose because sweets are served during the festival.
According to another theory, the term is a literal translation of the Turkish name of the festival ‘Seker Bayrami’ which could have been mistranslated from ‘Şükür Bayrami’. According to the knowledge platform including living together, this happened decades ago. But the platform also prefers Eid al Fitr. Because: “The discomfort among Muslims about this is growing.”
