Eid is coming soon inshAllah and we see asian shopping areas busy with Muslim shoppers buying the latest saree, shalwar khameez and sherwani suits.
What happend to the clothes bought only a month and a half a go for eid? They have been discarded and are old. Hence everyone is buying the latest clothes to dress to impress friends and family. Who said those clothes are old? Fashion did, who and what is fashion and who dictates the latest trends? The manufacturers of clothes do because most clothes will last you years, which is no good for the people who make them. This is why they manage to convince shallow and foolish people to always follow the latest trends in order to be " IN "
Many of us Muslims have been blessed financially by Allah swt and we can afford to buy for both eids, but the point is why do we feel the need to? Why cant we wear what we wore only less than 2 months ago? Why don’t we think of those who are less well off than us and instead give the money to them as charity or even give them our old clothes from only 2 months ago?
Just because we live in the west does not mean that we have to engage in consumarism and follow the latest fashions and trends albeit the Muslim/asian version. A saying i heard once which aptly describes what i am talking about is " I spend money to buy things i dont need in order to impress people who dont care about me".
Yes, alhamdulilah Islam allows us to buy nice clothes and look nice, but we also have a duty and responsibilty to those less well of then us and also to thank Allah swt for the rizk which we have been blesed with as a trust from Allah. Ultimately everything belongs to Allah and we are not the owners of anything at all.
Also I see some families who are struggling financially get themsleves into debt just so that they can dress and look nice for one day. Its quite funny actually because when we die and are put into our coffins we wont be wearing much more than a sheet and when Allah swt raises us on the last day we will all be naked and the men will be uncircumcised.
I agree with most of wat you are saying, the wasteful spending is annoying and i cant stand showboaters.
but someone buying new clothes within their means is not an issue. I have for that very reason either eliminated buying clothes especially for eid, or the ones thatI Buy are those that I can wear often...similar reasons that I do not buy deis clothes for shaddis etc. I have a bunch and they do just fine.
Now your dragging in 'the west' takes away from your otherwise very meaningful post and shows as if it is only a problem here. however, if you ant to look at waste you will find heaps of it in Muslim countries, be it Pakistan or saudi arabia or UAE.
this showboating and consipicuous consumption around eid is evident everywhere.
I think a balance is needed, one should not live like a pauper if Alla has blessed them with material success, ..but they should also not be wasteful.
I would however appeal to people to wear the clothes they just got for last eid, or nice clothes that they have already and send that money (in addition to whatever you may already be sending) to needy people.
Lives that were impacted by earthquakes are still in need of our support. Their are kids who need surgeries for malformed limbs or things like cleft lip much more than yet another garment in your closet.
As was mentioned by both of you, balance is the key. It wouldnt make sense for some one well off to show unnecessary restrain. However, i think it would be nice to see a trend taking eid from being a sweet eating, money giving and clothes buying material holiday to more of a celebration of life and an occassion to give thanks by doing good deeds and encouraging kids to use the Eidi for charities.
I say lets get back to the original spirit of eid.
Jzk for your comments, much appreciated inshAllah. When i mentioned the west i was talking from my own expereinces as someone who lives in the west and sees such wasteful and un-Islamic things taking place.
Yes u are absolutely right that such things also happen in Muslim countries. Me mentioning the west in this instance was actually descriptive rather than a critisism of them.
I admit I do get caught up in wanting to buy new stuff for Eid. But then I remember, it’s not like I even go to parties or anything on Eid, I just stay home and do nothing. Yeah, i’ll dress up like crazy, but I don’t think I can spend upwards of 200$ on a decent outfit to wear for one day. I don’t believe in the “you have to wear a new outfit” each Eid, dressing up and looking nice yeah, but not that.
Btw, I don’t think anybody actually wears an outfit once and then just discards it, at least I would never do that. Even with my wedding lengha, I fully intend to wear it as much as I can afterwards, so it doesn’t go to waste
sara I think showkot has clarified himself that his intent was not to bash the west.
Lets let it be on that front.
he does bring forth a very good point though on the wasteful spending part. how much do families spend on eid clothing $50/person .. $100/person, I mean this is a fairly conservative estimate right, for a family of 4, its like $400.. or around 20K rupees..do u know what it can do for some of the neediest ppl on this planet?
see, i have not bought wasteful eid outfits for such a long time, that I dont even remember. plus I have never been a woman :) But I agree, you women folks blow much more money than guys on clothing.
$100 or so buy you Amir Adnan kurta shalwars for men in Chicago, that is the last thing I bought for eid a few years back. it cost me $125 I think. There were other outfits that were cheaper.
and yes I am very kanjoos when it comes to buying something that I would not wear often. suits and stuff are a diff story but they are a tool of the trade.
wear it for ur wifey fraud