Another Eid al-Fitr in Marrakech

By 7 a.m, thousands of people already filled the boulevard.  The street was lined with plastic woven mats for people to sit and pray on, but the crowds were larger and spilled over onto the sidewalks, the island dividing the street, the doorway of the police station and the small sports arena.  People moved the barricades to make more room.  Men and women place their own small prayer rugs over the plastic mats and then directly on the street where the mats have ended. Eventually, there were probably ten thousand people there.

The cool morning breeze competed with the intense rays of the sun rising almost directly in front of us. The temperature, already in the 80's, was expected to climb to 107 degrees. People began turning their backs to the sun's rays while they waited for the prayer to start. Some of the women shaded themselves with the ends of their scarves.  Some put their prayer rugs over their heads to block what seemed to be laser-like heat from boring directly down into their skulls.  Female volunteers carried cups and gallons of water through the crowd of women, providing water to whichever women or children signalled for a drink.

Most of the men were dressed in long thobes--white, beige, grey, brown, black, striped, even plaid.  The women wore every color and pattern imaginable.  Not just black or brown, but magenta, teal, green, blue, turquoise, rose, and lavender in solids, geometric designs, flowered patterns of cotton, silk, synthetic materials.

At 6 a.m. the call over the loudspeakers had started:  Allahu Akbar, Subhanallah, Allahu Akbar. I could hear it clearly from my house 2 blocks away. Last year the crowd could hear the imam perfectly. Unfortunately this Eid, the 2nd speaker system--where we were seated and about more than a city block from the imam--had degraded in quality as time went on.  At a little past by 7:30 a.m. when the time the prayer started, pretty much all we could make out were the Allahu Akbars and the Salaams at the end.  There was just no hope of hearing the khutbah, and at least a couple of thousand of us left right after the salat.

Yet even with the technical failure, I realized afterward that when we stood and made the prayer, I had forgotten all about the heat of the still rising sun.  During the prayer, it just wasn't hot anymore.

Eid al-Fitr in Marrakech

Ramadan, the month of fasting, ends at sunset.  The Eid (eed), or celebration, begins at night.  I bring a gift of decorative holiday cookies to my downstairs neighbors.  With cookies and orange soda, we wish each other  Eid Mabrook, blessings of the holiday.

The time for fajr, the morning prayers, runs from about 4:30-6:00.  That is the time the sky begins to lighten, but ends as the sun actually comes up over the horizon.  At 6:00 loudspeakers from the street are urging everyone out of their homes with "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar...".

By 7:00 a wide boulevard is packed with people for 2 long city blocks. They cover over the dividing islands and cross each side of the street.  Lines of parked cars completely and effectively block each end of the site. People fill every inch from curb to curb, sidewalk to sidewalk. One block is for the men, one block is for the women. I see a few policemen scattered about. They are not needed for this celebratory prayer.

There are thousands of people here. Ten thousand? Twenty? When I stand directly in the middle of the street and look straight ahead, I cannot spot the imam out of all of this crowd. To my right, the sun is bright white and still low, just clear of the rooftops.  There is a breeze; the air is still cool.  It is only about 80 degrees.  That feels cool, because later on, the forecast is predicting a high of 110. 

Woven plastic matting has been unrolled in the streets.  On top of that, people place their prayer mats and sit on the ground.  Those who have some physical difficulty bring stools or chairs.   For the latecomers, the places on the matting are taken.  No matter.  They lay their prayer rugs directly on the ground to sit on and then to stand on to pray. The rugs always touch or overlap as the Muslims will stand to pray not singly, but as a unit--touching shoulder to shoulder and toe to toe.

In the midst of these thousands of people, two friends come up to me out of the crowd.  A moment later, I spot a 3rd friend over to my left.  I introduce each to the other.

In the normal Friday congregational prayer, there is always first the khutbah, or sermon, then the prayer.  For eid, the order is reversed.  The loudspeakers, strung from light poles along the street so that all can hear,
have stopped the chant and the voice of the imam, who remains invisible in the distance to me throughout, begins the prayer.

By 8:00 the family downstairs has received it's first holiday visitors--nephews, sister, cousins. We eat cookies, drink coffee.  We share soup and a traditional square bread layered, pastry-like and fried.

I go upstairs again.  It's geting hot, and I go online to check the weather.  At 8:30, it's 91 degrees. 

Eid Mabrook, from Marrakech.

Eid al Adha

Eid al-Adha, the eid following the hajj, is a major holiday in Morocco.  Schools and businesses are closed.  Everyone cleans house and redecorates according to their budgets.  People save money all year if they have to, in order to sacrifice a sheep or even a cow.

I find that unlike in America, where the eid is often simply squeezed into a couple of hours to go to the mosque during a work day, the importance of the holiday here has given me time to reflect on the way that it is significant to me personally.

Our sacrifice of an animal reflect the test of Abraham, whom Allah allowed to sacrifice an animal instead of his son Ismail.  So the first thing I found myself thinking about was death.  Three sheep were sacrificed for various families on the roof of the house.  I watched as they were killed, skinned and gutted.  Each sheep was killed out of sight of the others so as not to alarm them.  All unsuspecting of their own imminent deaths, they were like each of us human beings, who cannot foresee our own ends.

I thought about Allah, Who has the only power there is over our existence. There is no other power but His as we have to live each minute and to die without recourse.

I thought about work, for turning the animal from a living being into food is a time-consuming, difficult and messy business. People here spend a brief time in the morning in their new holiday duds and then change into work clothes as they work through all the steps that will end in having meat on the table.

After all the work is done, folks can relax for couple of days and go visit friends and family.  They enjoy cakes, share laughter and give money to children.  That is how Eid al-Adha is done in Morocco.