Written By Temitope Fatimah Adeiye

For Muslims, the end of Ramadan is marked by feasting after the month-long abstinence from food and water from dawn to dusk. Before going for the Eid prayers on Eid-ul-Fitri, Muslims are required to eat, no matter how little, before going for the congregational prayers. This shows how important food is in celebrating the Eid festival.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it is definitely not business as usual and Muslims have found their food choices affected by the restrictions. Normally, a typical Eid day is marked by festivities once Muslims return from the mosque. A feast is laid out, friends, neighbours and family visit one another and celebrate their good fortune of making it to the end of another Ramadan.

For some families, the celebration is small while for others it is a full-blown party. But no matter how small or large your celebration, the two things in common remain food and guests. As we approach the end of Ramadan, many Muslims are quite unsure of how to celebrate the Eid, understandably so.

I spoke to 9 Muslims about their plans for Eid and here’s what they had to say:

Aminah (F)

I’m not big on cooking so I’m praying my husband takes charge since he’s not fond of buying food. Last year we had a barbecue and cooked some dishes but this year, I can’t even stress myself at all.

Hussainah (F)

This year, there’ll be less food and drinks since I’ll be spending the holidays alone. Since I’m not hosting, I plan to give out the food I would’ve dedicated for entertaining guests to charity.

Abdullah (M)

There’s no difference for me because Eid days usually fall on my working days so it’s business as usual. Muslim religious holidays aren’t public holidays in Ireland where I live.

Halimah (F)

I’d be cooking solely or my family as opposed to preparing a feast. Before the pandemic, we used to host guests and also return the favour by visiting family friends. I guess that’s a thing of the past now. Going to the market (whenever I want to) is something I miss.

These days, market runs make me very anxious, so, it’s a blessing in disguise that we’d be saving coins and cooking just for two this time around. Heck, we might just save make noodles.

Aisha (F)

It’ll be just me and my mom, nothing special. I'll be making some snacks to go with the rice and chicken on the menu. Normally we'd have people over or spend the holiday with family from other parts of the country but there’ll be none of that this year.

Zaynab(F)

I wish I were in Nigeria, so I could order food and maybe have a small outdoor grill. But being here in the UK, it’s most likely going to be just another day. We’ll have regular food and I just might grill chicken.

Rasheedah (F)

Last year I made about five different meals and enjoyed with my husband. I also shared plates of food with my neighbours as well. This year, I’m still confused as to whether I should invite a friend and her husband over or just do our thing lowkey.

The fact that I don’t know if those I’ll invite will accept my invitation is making me less enthusiastic about cooking. If I knew for sure they’d come I’d have bought the things I’ll cook with by now. There’s little to no motivation.

Tosin (F)

Before the pandemic, we used to travel down to Ibadan for Eid. This year will be a lot different with the lockdown in place. My mother-in-law has a tradition of giving people food and I still want to keep that alive. So this year, I might be sending food through dispatch to my friends.

Saheed (M)

My wife already spoke to a caterer about providing us with a variety of meals for Eid. She did something similar last year when we had our friends over to chill with food, snacks and drinks. This year, there’ll be none of that so we’re just going to share some of the food with our neighbours and close friends.

Since there will not be any socializing till further notice, few people would be receiving guests and this means the quantity and variety of foods used in the celebration would be nothing like before.

Wardah (F)

My husband and I used to invite a few friends over and we'll play games, gist and have fun. But this year, It's going to be just us. No guests. However, we'll still keep up our tradition of dressing up and taking pictures.

The menu will include our annual Eid Cake (tangy flavour this time) and Samosas with Zobo (hibiscus drink) which we'll share with our neighbours. For the main, we'll have either pounded yam and vegetable soup or Jollof rice and peppered chicken. This year, we won't be going out a day after Eid as was customary in our home. We'll just stay at home and maximize the festive season as much as possible.

It’s okay if you haven’t decided on how you want to celebrate- we have never celebrated Eid in a pandemic before so everyone is new to this. Whether you cook noodles for your household only or you cook 5 different soups or you can only manage to cook one pot of jollof rice, your celebration is valid.

Temitope is a Muslim Feminist and freelance writer with an interest in culture, parenting and feminist discourse. Her work has been featured in publications like Pulse, Net Nigeria and many more.