Islam for Kids: Islamic Holidays

I was asked to add a page of songs and stories for Islamic Holidays to my son's homeschooling preschool group. This was much harder than I thought it would be. I wanted to keep everything as respectful as I could to the other faiths in the group.
The songs and stories I have compiled can be used for teaching both Muslim and non-Muslim children about Eid al Fitr, Eid al Adha, and Ramadan.

Islam follows a lunar calendar. The holidays fall on the same day on the Islamic calendar each year but changes by about 10 day each year from the Gregorian solar calendar.

Ramadan is the ninth month on the Islamic Calendar. This year, 2013, Ramadan starts after sunset on July 8th and ends after sunset on August 7th.
During the month of Ramadan healthy, sane, adult Muslims fast. Fasting means that they abstain from food and drink from dawn till dusk. 
Ramadan is a very special month because it is the month when the Qur'an was first revealed to Muhammad (saw).

Tippy Tippy Tiptar

Tippy Tippy Tiptar first day of iftar,

What do I take to the mosque?

A plate of rice and a pinch of spice,

That's what I took to the mosque

Tippy Tippy Tiptar, second day of iftar

What do I take to the mosque?

A bunch of dates, on a pretty plate

That's what I took to the mosque.

- Iftar is the meal after sunset that breaks ones fast.

- Mosque is a Muslim's place of worship

Here is a lovely song by Nancy Stewart called Ramadan. You can hear the song here.

Ramadan
by Nancy Stewart copyright 2001

I have a friend, his name is Omar
His family celebrates Ramadan
The ninth month of the lunar year
His family celebrates Ramadan

Chorus:
Ramadan, Ramadan
His family celebrates Ramadan

Every morning they get up
And have a big meal before the light
Then they don’t eat, and they don’t drink,
They fast until the dark of night
(chorus)

I have a friend, her name is Ameena
Her family celebrates Ramadan
We go to school together and play,
Ameena prays five times a day, during
(chorus)

On the first day of the month that follows Ramadan
Their families invite us to the feast that they
put on Celebrating
(chorus)

Ramadan Mubarak (have a blessed Ramadan) Ramadan

The end of Ramadan is celebrated on the first day of the Islamic month Shawwal. This year it falls on August 8, 2013. This is called Eid al Fitr. In Turkey it is called Seker Bayram or Sugar Holiday since it is customary to give out candy to the neighborhood children and eat baklava.

Clip Clip Clippity- Clippity Clop

Clip Clip Clippity- Clippity Clop,

Here comes mother with her brand new mop,

splish over here, splash over there,

Cleaning scrubbing everywhere

Dusting all the cobwebs, beating all the mats,

Arranging all the furniture, hanging all the hats

Mother dear, please tell me- who is coming here?

She said my son, don't you know? Eid-ul-Fitr's near!

The biggest holiday of them all is Eid al Adha. Eid al Adha falls on the 10th day of the Islamic month Zul-Hijja. It will fall on October 16th this year.

Eid al Adha translates to Festival of the Sacrifice. It commemorates the Qur'anic and Biblical story of Abraham and his son. A cow, sheep or goat is usually sacrificed. Half of the meat is given in charity and donated to the poor.

Eid al Adha also marks the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.  This pilgrimage is called Hajj. 

Once in a Lifetime

Once in a lifetime I will go,

I will be a pilgrim, my faith will grow,

Round and round the Kaaba I will run,

And I won't mind the shining sun,

Off to Mina and then Arafat,

This is a plain so wide and flat

The Kaaba is a square stone building in the center of the Grand Mosque is Mecca.

 

During Hajj pilgrims perform different rituals following the steps of Abraham and his wife Hajar. One of the rituals is to drink water from the spring of Zam Zam. Here is a short story about how the spring of Zam Zam was formed to help Hajar during this time.

 

One day a long time ago a man named Abraham brought his wife Hajar and their son Ishmael into the desert. He left his wife and son with a canteen of water before leaving. This water eventually ran out. Hajar became very thirsty, and so did her son who started to cry. Hajar hated seeing him cry. She set forth looking for water. As-Safa being the mountain closest to her, she climbed it and looked down at the valley to see if she could find anyone to help her. She found no one and so she descended from the mountain until she reached the valley. Then she climbed Al-Marwah Mountain in keeping her search for water but to no avail. She went back to As-Safa then back again to Al-Marwah for many times. On her last arrival to Al-Marwah, she heard a voice. She called out: “Help, if you can”. There was an Angel whose name was Gabriel. The Angel hit the ground with his wing until fresh and pure water emerged. That became known as Zam zam water. Hajar gathered the water with her hands and collected it in her container while it was springing out.

Eid Mubarak

Eid Mubarak to you and you,

Eid Kareem for you and you,

Everyone's happy to share in the fun,

Everyone's happy that Eid has begun.

Eid Mubarak- Happy Eid

Eid Kareem- Holy Eid

All Rhymes are from the book Eid Songs by: Fawzia Gillani.

What a Day!

Today was such a busy day. I was fasting and intentionally made myself busy so I wouldn't notice my hunger. It worked. Today was my husband's cousin's birthday. I made her a big feast. We had a homemade Boston Market dinner. Chicken, spinach, corn, mashed potatoes, Mac N' cheese. It was all so good! I made her a beautiful chocolate tiered cake with vanilla frosting. Yum!

Ozlem with her Birthday Cake

I have been craving pumpkin cheesecake for a couple of days now. Today was my cheat day from my diet so why not make one. I used a butternut squash from my garden. It was so yummy. I am going to freeze the leftovers for next week's cheat meal lol.

"Pumpkin" cheesecake

As with anytime I cook a squash I had to roast the seeds for my husband. He absolutely loved them. We were down to our last quart of yogurt and running out would be a *catastrophe*. So I heated up the milk. When I remembered to check on it the milk was kind of cold. Lets see if the yogurt sets or not. That is one bad thing about multitasking.
Yesterday we defrosted our chest freezer to make room for meat in the hopes of doing a Qurbani. Inshallah. When I was consolidating everything I found some ground turkey, roasted tomatoes (from my garden last year), and onions. I threw all of that into the crock pot with some pinto beans. I will be having chili for lunch tomorrow!
I made a double batch of laundry soap today and ended up with 5 gallons! I won't have to worry about running out anytime soon.
After dinner in a panic to get everything ready for Eid I took on some of the projects I had planned. I dyed 3 play silks to give BB as a present for Eid. They came out ok for my first attempt. I am hoping to do some more colors tomorrow.

Playsilk in dye bath

While we were waiting for the dye to set me and BB got to cross off another project from my list. I had been wanting to make a replica of the Kaaba to use as a teaching tool and as a decoration for Eid. Last week I got a box already to paper mâché. We paper mâchéd it tonight and I am hoping to have BB paint it tomorrow.

BB gettin'  dirty with some paper mache.

Wow that was a lot. I am tired! It is amazing how much I can get done when I actually put my mind to it and focus! Tomorrow I have another busy day ahead of me. I think I might need a nap first.

Eid Mubarak!!!

Saturday was the last day of Ramadan so Sunday we got to Par-Tay!!!  I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Eid and I hope that all of our fasts were accepted. Inshallah.  Luckily Eid fell on a Sunday this year so my husband didn't have to worry about taking off from work or anything.  My husband went to the masjid for eid prayer in the morning and then we spent the rest of the day home. 
I made a big dinner with roasted chicken and potatoes which came out delicious.  We had stuffed grape leaves, salad, soup, rice.  I honestly can't remember all that I made.  For dessert I made kemal pasha.  I usually make baklava for Eid but I have been extra tired since my wisdom teeth are coming in and just didn't have the energy. 
I got BB a cute little wooden train set that he absolutely loves.  He walks around with his train going ch ch ch ch.  It is so cute.  Since our trip he is now obsessed with trains, planes and automobiles lol.  But seriously if he hears an airplane fly over us he stops and points to the sky. 
Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of this Eid but I never get sick of seeing old ones.



Eid 2011

Next year I plan on going into Jamaica, Queens for Eid.  Eid Salat (prayer) there is unbelievable.  If you don't already follow HONY a.k.a. Humans of New York go do that.  The pictures are ah-mazing! Here is one of the pictures HONY took from this years Eid Salat in Queens.

This almost brings tears to my eyes.  A beautiful sea of humanity all bowing to our creator the One and Only God.