Last Sunday was the very special day of Eid al-Adha, filled with joy, prayer, and a few unexpected moments. The day started with Sami helping me get ready and washing my hair. She’s got a real talent for styling, and she makes sure I look my best whenever it’s a special day or if we’re going anywhere important.
After getting ready, we headed to the masjid to join the community in prayer. Eid prayer was at 9:30am, but oftentimes the prayer is held much earlier, with some masjids holding their prayer as early as 6:30am. The sense of unity and peace during the prayer was profound, reminding me of the strength and beauty of our faith. The mosque was extremely packed on the men’s side, and it was heartwarming to see everyone dressed in their finest, sharing smiles and greetings. Women and men enter and pray in separate areas of the masjid. Sami informed me that the women’s side of the masjid was also filled with lots of women also.
After the prayer finished, Sami soon discovered her shoes had been stolen from the masjid. (Muslims remove their shoes when entering the prayer area of a Masjid, called the Musala and usually place them on shoe racks near the entrance.) It was pretty sad to see her have to walk barefoot all the way back to the car, but she handled it well and didn’t let it ruin our Eid.
To lift our moods, we decided to spend some time at Rec Room, an arcade inside of Square One Shopping Centre, a mall located in Mississauga. Walking in, there wasn’t much to see, or at least so I thought… the first level featured only a few games and then I discovered there was a lower level filled with tons of different games. With a little looking around, I found Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, one of my all-time favorite Mario Karts. (Probably because there hasn’t been new Mario Kart content in 7 years 😑) Sami and I played the first race but U. joined the second race and SOMEHOW WON.
Before we played the rigged Mario Kart, we played Air Hockey. Sami tried her best, but when she aimed for my goal, the puck somehow didn’t register a point for her…or at least that’s what she said, but she’s probably just making that up in order to avoid admitting it was a skill issue. We spent the rest of our time there trying out new games we hadn’t previously played before.
When we left Rec Room I was hungry, taking advantage of the fact that we were still in the mall we decided to go to the food court where I went to Taco Bell and tried ordering my go-to Beefy 5 layer burrito. I swap the beef with potatoes to create something that tastes pretty similar to the Loaded Potato Griller that Taco Bell used to sell a few years ago but removed from the menu. Taco Bell doesn’t serve halal meat in Canada, so this works as a pretty good hack for any Muslims interested in giving it a try. However, unfortunately, the Taco Bell we visited on Eid was completely sold out of potatoes. Luckily, the restaurant Sami was ordering from had potatoes so she offered to order potatoes as her side dish to give to me to create my own burrito. Sami and I went back to the Taco Bell, ordered a single tortilla, a side of sour cream and nacho cheese and I piled everything into the tortilla myself, making the perfect burrito. It might seem like a small thing, but customizing my burrito to my liking was a satisfying end to our time out.
While in the mall U. also kept trying to buy Sami new shoes to try to make up for the ones that she lost, but she kept declining his attempts to buy her a new set of kicks, maybe if she was smarter she would’ve said yes but for now she has -1 shoes.
Reflecting on the day, I felt incredibly grateful for the experiences and the love that surrounded me on Eid. Eid al-Adha is not just about the celebrations, but also about acknowledging the sacrifice Prophet Ibrahim, known as Abraham by those in the Christian and Jewish faith, made in honor of God and also showing our own gratitude to and reverence for God. I am truly happy to be a part of this wonderful religion and thankful to Allah for letting me be born and raised into it. Today reminded me of the blessings of faith, family, and fun, and I couldn’t be more appreciative of my God and my family. Assalamualaikum and Eid Mubarak everyone!
