Eid or Ied?

Hello!
Did you know that it's actually 'Eid' not 'Ied'? I thought it's written 'Ied' not 'Eid' in English but apparently in the Oxford dictionary the correct one is 'Eid'. Anyway it doesn't matter?? Both are acceptable as long as you pronounce it 'eed' like in 'feed', because the original word is عيد ('Aiyd) which means feast (in Bahasa Indonesia = hari raya).

Muslims celebrate Eid twice a year, the first is Eid Al-Fitr (festival of breaking the fast) - the celebration after a full month of fasting (Ramadhan), and the second is Eid Al-Adha (festival of the sacrifice) - when we sacrifice an animal (usually a goat/cow), cook it and give it to the needy. The dates for these holidays vary from year to year because we use Islamic lunar calendar (based on moon stages) to determine the days.

Muslims welcome Eid with joyful celebration to show gratitude to The Merciful. It begins with morning prayer (salat Eid), family & neighbors gatherings (silaturahim), ask for forgiveness to each other and we share meals to give thanks for what we have, similarly like Thanksgiving Day. The traditional food for Eid in Indonesia is ketupat, stuffed rice cooked in a pouch made of palm/coconut leaves. It is essential for Eid, and what else is essential? A greeting!

So how do we greet people in Eid and what is the proper way to say 'happy Eid'? You can say Eid Mubarak. Mubarak means blessings (in Bahasa Indonesia = berkah), the phrase equal to 'have a blessing Eid' or simply 'happy holiday', so you don't have to say 'Happy Eid Mubarak' because then it would mean 'happy happy holiday', no need to say happy twice unless you're.. extra :-)

Eid mubarak everyone!

The most common greeting in Indonesia for Eid is 'minal aidin wal faizin'. It basically means 'wish we are purified & succeeded'. The 'we' refers to the people who feast because 'aidin' means the people who feast (in bahasa Indonesia = orang-orang yang berhari raya). Sometimes people also greet with 'taqaballalahu minna wa minkum' which means 'may Allah takes your and my good deeds'.

Well, Eid Mubarak guys! Minal aidin wal faizin, taqaballalahu minna wa minkum, please forgive me. Hope you all have warmth & peaceful holiday.