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A joyful conclusion of Ramadan, Muslims’ ‘season of joy’

Today at sunset, Muslims around the globe will bid farewell to the monthlong fast of Ramadan, ushering in a three-day holiday called Eid al-Fitr.

After a month of daily 18-hour fasts and self restraint to increase our spirituality, it should come as no surprise that the day immediately following Ramadan is filled with a joyful celebration focused on the community’s shared feeling of spiritual achievement and contentment.

It doesn’t matter which part of the world you may find yourself on Eid day; it’s a unique time when prayer, affection, food and fun unite Muslims in a way that is unmatched.

My very first Eid in Seattle was almost 50 years ago when Muslims in the Puget Sound included just a couple of families and a few foreign students studying at the University of Washington.

That was our community’s humble beginning. For years, our Eid prayers were held in a small meeting room at what was then called the University Methodist Church on the corner of 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 43rd Street, across from the UW campus.

Eid was in the winter back then, and some had to travel in harsh weather so we could pray together. We were still a small community, but our love for one another made the numbers seem immaterial.

The Eid prayer on Sunday falls in the heart of summer, and attendance will be so massive that local Muslims are gathering in a huge space — the Washington State Convention Center.

I wish all my fellow Americans could be there so they could experience this unique event — our joyful emotions expressed in warm hugs, endless smiles and a few kisses.

Everyone greets each other with “Eid Mubarak” — meaning “May your Eid be blessed.” The event radiates sisterhood and brotherhood, so real the endless embraces are regardless of color, class or creed.

Muslim women are the visual manifestation of Eid’s festive spirit. Their hands are adorned with decorative henna designs, wrists with shimmering bangles and their traditional dresses are bright and colorful.

Later at my family home, which will be decorated with colored lights, streamers and balloons, Eid will become a reunion of sorts with visiting relatives and friends. The holiday always brings out some special family desserts that are aromatic, spiced with saffron and cardamom, many soaked in fragrant orange blossom and rose water and sprinkled with green pistachios.

Eid is graduation day for everyone who fasted; our spirits are uplifted with humility and reverence. This extreme makeover becomes our badge of honor to share with everyone through actions and deeds.But perhaps the greatest blessing for Muslims is knowing that by fasting the entire month for God alone, all of our past sins have been forgiven.

While this holy month has transformed my spirituality and given me a sense of renewal, I am always saddened at the end of Ramadan, aware this special time will not return for another year.

Over the next three days, I will relish this season of joy for Muslims.

If you have a Muslim friend, neighbor or co-worker, please share in their happiness by wishing them Eid Mubarak — May your Eid be blessed!

SOURCE: The Seatle Times

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India, Bangladesh to sort out trade issues

It seems to be a torrent of activities this monsoon on the Indo-Bangla trade front. The Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO) said on Tuesday that it has planned a meeting of Bangladesh exporters with Indian importers in city shortly.

Early this month the Indo-Bangla Trade Fair 2012 was held in Dhaka and the joint trade study team launched a tour of North-Eastern States beginning with Tripura. In July both neighbours are scheduled to meet on the Protocol on Inland Water Transport and Trade.

The trade between the two countries is expected to have grown to over Rs 300 crore (official available statistic up to December, 2011, says Rs 232 crore).

Mr R. K. Agarwal, Eastern Regional Chairman of FIEO, at an interaction with the Bangladeshi Deputy High Commissioner, Ms Abida Islam, said the trade body will hold a meet on trade issues.

The programme is aimed at providing Bangladesh businessmen access to their Indian counterparts to imports textiles , jute and leather and export engineering goods, electronics items, auto parts, agri products and processed foods.

The Bangladesh diplomat said there was a need for greater engagement to sort out trade-related problems and remove bottlenecks. She said traders on both sides of the border face almost identical irritants — delays on the land border posts, payments and absence of efficient mechanisms infrastructure.

“In May, one such issue pertaining to long-term visas was taken up at an official level meeting”, Ms Islam said.

Mr Agarwal said an improvement in the formal and informal trade channels would justify the investments in facilitation measures of the two countries. FIEO also urged that the system of the certification called ‘Clear Record of Findings’ for exports from India be removed altogether.

The Bangladesh Government has already done away with the certification for several products, except for a few.

SOURCE:Business Line

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Kidnapping of diplomat un-Islamic

Imam and Khatib at the Grand Mosque in Makkah Sheikh Saleh bin Humaid said yesterday that resorting to kidnapping diplomats is against Islamic law.

“Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) told two messengers of Musailimah, a bitter enemy of the Prophet (pbuh), that he would not kill them because he is not killer of messengers,” Bin Humaid said while delivering the Friday congregational sermon at the Grand Mosque.

This Islamic precedent showed that no envoy or consul of a country should be harmed as the official comes under the category of messengers.

The sheikh was referring to the abduction of Saudi diplomat Abdullah Al-Khalidi in Aden about a month ago.

“The Kingdom refuses to submit to any form of extortion particularly if it is by any terror act or criminal band,” Bin Humaid said, adding that the Kingdom will not make any bargain on its law, administration and policies and it will not surrender any of its citizens to unidentified people of doubtful reputation.

The sheikh said any gang that resorts to kidnapping people are far removed from religious rules. “They are not following the teachings of Islam, which they claim to adhere to,” he said.

The rules of Islam tolerate acts such as kidnapping only in the midst of a pitched battle or in the battlefield, he said. “Even then they are not allowed to harm a child, woman, old man, or to maim any man or animal or even cut a tree,” he added.

The sheikh said kidnapping of an innocent and lonely man is the proof of the criminal group’s bankruptcy, weakness, lack of sanity, fanaticism and criminality. He said that the group is controlled by deviants who thrive on hatred of the civilized people.

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