Calgary, Canada: Muslims prepare for festival of Eid

Chaudhary and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women's Organization will be offering henna tattoos during a special event called Eid Expo, to take place Friday from 5 p.m. to 8: 30 p.m. at Cardel Place. Henna tattoos will be offered at no charge on a first come, first served basis, along with refreshments and information about Eid-ul-Adha.

Abdullah Chaudhary, 6,
Photo: Ted Rhodes, Calgary Herald

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Calgary Herald | For Neighbours
By Cindy Stephen | November 3, 2011

None of the three children in the Chaudhary household have ever set foot in their ancestral country of Pakistan. But to them, their parents and 75,000 other Muslims who call Calgary home, loyalty to family traditions still runs deep.

"Our parents kept us close to the culture," says 35-year-old Mansoora Chaudhary, who was born, raised and educated in Calgary.

"We went to the mosque twice a week and kept all the holidays sacred. When your parents instil that love in your heart for your culture and for your faith, it is easy to do that with your own children as well."

Chaudhary and her husband, who immigrated to Canada 20 years ago, are busy preparing their family for Eid-ul-Adha, the Islamic Festival of Sacrifice which this year falls on Sunday.

Pronounced "eed" in their Urdu dialect, this celebration comes two months and ten days after Eid-ul-Fitir which marks the end of Ramadan, the fasting month.

This Eid is a much-anticipated one-day event at the conclusion of Hajj, the journey to Mecca which each Muslim strives to complete at least once in their lifetime.

This holy day also honours the legacy of the Prophet Abraham, told by God to sacrifice his son - a familiar story shared by many religions.


Eid begins with a morning of prayer, a sermon and hugs all around wishing friends and family "Eid Mubarak"- a blessed Eid.

The day's celebrations include socializing, feasting and admiring everyone's carefully chosen and exquisite new clothes.

Following the example in the story of Abraham, a goat is sacrificed, appropriately at a local slaughter house which offers this service.

Many Calgary Muslims simply send money to relatives in Pakistan so that they may do the same. The less fortunate members of the community are also included in the celebrations.

Mansoora Chaudhary's children, Heather, 12, Rania, 9 and Abdullah, 6, have new clothes brought by friends from Pakistan.

The girls have a dazzling array of bangles and come the day of Eid, a great fuss will be made of their hair and fingernails. Young Abdullah will wear his new hat, part of the traditional Pakistani garb and always worn during prayer at the family mosque.

"We wear these clothes for Eid and for other special occasions like weddings," says Heather with a shy smile. "We have other clothes like this, but not as fancy."

Another aspect of Eid preparations for women is adorning the hands and arms with henna tattoos. Henna is a non-permanent natural brown dye or stain which fades after a few weeks. The intricate art is drawn or painted and is very popular in Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures.

Chaudhary and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women's Organization will be offering henna tattoos during a special event called Eid Expo, to take place Friday from 5 p.m. to 8: 30 p.m. at Cardel Place.

"This is the first time we've done this. We thought we'd have a fair and introduce our festival of Eid and have a good chat with people," says Chaudhary.

Henna tattoos will be offered at no charge on a first come, first served basis, along with refreshments and information about Eid-ul-Adha.

Cardel Place, 11950 Country Village Link N.E., has offered space for the women's group at no charge as part of their mandate to be a community hub in north-central Calgary.

"We want this to be a gathering place for people of all ethnic backgrounds and provide that place where people have a sense of belonging," says marketing and communications team leader, Brad Anderson.

"The main thing for us is to share and celebrate those who live in our community."

Chaudhary says she is very excited about sharing Eid with the public.

"Eid is a huge celebration for us. We give gifts, we put up lights, but the general public doesn't see it happening - it's not out there," she says.

"I would like our community to get recognized. We promote peace. There are misconceptions about Islam and Muslims. We want to make people more comfortable. We want people to know us, and know us in a good way."


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