LESSON 1 Pre reading:

Festivals of Muslims

What do you understand from the word 'festival'? How many festivals do the Muslims celebrate in a year? Name them. A festival is an event that is celebrated by a local community. It is centered on some unique aspect of that community. Communities and nations all over the world celebrate different events and festivals. The Muslims celebrate two festivals. They call them Eids. Eid is an Arabic word which means an event which happen again and again. In Islam Eid is a happy festival that occurs every year. They are Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha. These festivals are celebrated with great love and zeal. (What is meant by Eid? Which events do Muslims celebrate?) Eid-ul-Fitr comes first. It is celebrated after the holy month of Ramadan on the first day of Shawaal. Fitr means to break and it therefore marks the breaking of the fasting period and of all evil habits. The Muslims keep fasts in the month of Ramadan. It is a happy occasion for the Muslims because they have spent the whole month fasting - keeping away from all Haraam actions and also food and water - throughout the day. Thus they have trained themselves for living a life in which they do not do any Haraam actions. It is also a happy occasion because they hope that all their prayers have been accepted and that they have been forgiven for their previous sins and so start a fresh. This is a gift and great blessing of Allah for the Muslims. They decorate their houses and streets. They wear new clothes and offer Eid Prayers in the Masjid. After Eid Prayers, the children get their Eidi from the elders. They spent money and enjoy. People arrange parties and get to gathers at their homes. It is a day of merry making and care for others. (Why is Eid ul fitre a happy occasion for the Muslims?)

Eid-ul-Azha is celebrated on tenth of Zilhajj. It marks the end of the Holy Pilgrimage of Muslims to Makkah. On this day the Muslims sacrifice goats, sheep, cows, buffaloes and camels. They distribute the meat among their friends, relatives and poor people. This develops love and goodwill among the Muslims. This day is memorable for Muslims as it reminds the great sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim(AS) and Hazrat Ismail(AS) for Allah Almighty.
(Why do the Muslims sacrifice animals?)

Hazrat Ibrahim(AS) dreamt that he is sacrificing his dear son Hazrat Ismail (AS) for Allah. He saw that dream again on 9th Zilhajj. In the morning, he told his dream to his beloved and obedient son. He said that he was ready for the sacrifice. Allah accepted his Prophet's sacrifice and sent a sheep in place of Hazrat Ismail(AS). He slaughtered the sheep instead. Allah made the actions of his Prophet Ibrahim (A) and his family wajib for all Muslims. (Guess the meanings of: slaughtered, sacrifice, instead) The sacrifice of the animal is the last stage of the Hajj and thus the joyous day is also known as Eid ul Adha (Eid of Sacrifice). It is a joyous occasion because we hope that our Hajj and sacrifice has been accepted and we are starting fresh with all our sins forgiven. This is the day of showing obedience to Allah.

Exercises
1. Answer these questions: a) How many Eids do the Muslims celebrate? Name them . b) When do the Muslims celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr? c) When do the Muslims celebrate Eid-ul-Azha? d) Why do the Muslims sacrifice on Eid-ul-Azha? e) How do you celebrate Eids? 2. Fill in the blanks with the words used in lesson. a) The ...................... keep fast in the month of Ramadan.

b) Eid-ul-Azha is celebrated on ......................Zilhajj. c) The Muslims sacrifice ................., sheep,....................,cows and buffaloes on Eid ul Azha. d) Hazrat..... .....................was ready to lay down his life for Allah. e) Hazrat ..............................told his dream to his son. 3. Complete these words: fest...v....ls, cel....bra....ed, bles....in....s, cam....ls, re....a....ives, me....o....y, in...ide....t

4. Use these words in sentences of your own: blessings, decorate, happy, celebrate, sacrifice

Vocabulary Read these words: showing: show, wing, how, in, swing, etc. goodwill: good, will, wood, lid, wild, etc. Make anagram from these words: 1. relatives 2. distribute 3. buffaloes

(Teacher Note:Tell the students that an anagram is a word that is formed from another word by arranging the letters. Explain them by giving more examples. Encourage the students to practise with more words.)