By Jasmin Omercic
Every religion has its own renowned days when joy and tranquility is shown and no sorrow is allowed. Far away from their home countries, many students of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) spent Eid at the university itself.
Many times my friends and I were personally asked how Eid was celebrated here. Surely all were asked more than once how Eid was celebrated in IIUM. But I doubt any one who had asked the question really knew how Eid was celebrated in our mother countries neither do they have any imagination nor inquisition about it.
Nevertheless, it can’t even been known while to spend Eid itself in ones home country is an adventure which cannot be explained to someone just like  the situation in Malaysia where I cannot comprehend the way how someone spends Eid in this country with their family. It is a living moment to feel the presence of your family and closest ones and breathe Eid-ul-Fitr after Ramadan’s blessings.
I am not giving someone an impression that there is no happiness in me as an international student but its a rather contemplation as well as a message of rhetoric answering what’s worth and putting in my mind each individual’s feeling that some things are hard to explain.
It is indeed hard to talk about happiness while knowing that on all sides of the world people are dying of hunger and under oppression while being completely innocent. Contemplation about this makes things harder and to celebrate Eid difficult.
However, as Prophet S.A.W. used to practise during his own time when Muslims too were oppressed and under exile, so we shall follow. That practice was the emphasis that Eid-ul-Fitr has knocked on the door and we have to open the doors at least for the youth who are not aware of the reality but deserve to have that childhood and feel the difference a few days of Eid.
Meanwhile, it should be stored in our mind that Eid should not drive us too far of our responsibilities in life so to cause more harm than to do good things in life.
Eid in IIUM started from the morning Fajr. Eid prayer was announced widely by the Salawat and Takbeer from the minaret of the SHAHS Mosque where believers gathered in number filling the rows in beautiful fancy clothes. A very significant thing which I noticed was the different traditional dresses worn by individuals from different countries, including the children.
This made us think of the richness of Islamic traditions from different parts of the world. It showed there were similarities among Muslims even though we were separated by distance and geographical backgrounds. We could see both the resemblance of similarity in cultural dressings.
By the time we have performed the Eid prayer and listened to the khutbah, we started greeting and calling for each other’s blessings. Simultaneously, feelings were running high as reflected in every one’s face that he or she had missed their families at home. They missed the celebration they were used to do in their childhood or younger days with their parents and family members.
As we spent our time socialising while having refreshments under the tents, it gave us the opportunity to plan our schedules for the coming days of Eid as some of us had also received invitations from friends who had welcome each other.
In this way, many had felt ‘less missing’ as their Eid would be filled with new experience which would be greatly treasured and remembered in future years when they left IIUM.
IIUM could teach us to lead a life in zuhd, that is, to be like a traveller and appreciate the bounties on this world and work for the best in the hereafter. That logic reminded us of the importance to respect and accept what each one of us has done by choice and consider it as additional richness of our life experience.
Eid celebration in IIUM is not something everyone would live the same way but many of us have our own perception and observation whereby those optimistic would see in everything in the positive, and therewith eliminate the negatives as the way Sufis do. They support the optimistic interpretation of events giving strength to each member to improve and integrate rather than talk about the negatives that disunite them.
This time Eid unfortunately came with very sad news of Muslims in other parts of the world still suffering and living in danger of their life. The Palestinians in Gaza in particular, have come under severe bombardment caused by the atrocities of the Israel regime, and many of them had their houses destroyed and  family members and love ones lost in the battle. For them, there was actually no Eid to celebrate.
I hope there will come a day where everyone will wake up for Eid and celebrate it in peace the way we all had gone through or experienced in IIUM.
Eid Mubarak every one!