Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Mecca Webcam Live for Eid 2010, The End of Ramadan

Ramadan in 2010 started on Wednesday, the 11th of August and continued for 30 days until Eid falls this week, celebrated by the muslim community on Thursday, the 9th of September.

The focus of this celebration is Mecca, where this live web cam feed can be viewed:

Mecca webcam

Event information:

Eid al-Fitr, often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting (sawm). Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fidr means "to purify"; and so the holiday symbolizes the purification after completing the fasting month which is after the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan, on the first day of Shawwal.

Eid ul-Fitr lasts for one day of celebrations (yet, is celebrated for two or more in some counties) and is sometimes also known as the "Smaller Eid" as compared to the Eid al-Adha that lasts three days (or more) following the Hajj and is casually referred to as the "Greater Eid"

Muslims are commanded by the Qur'an to complete their fast on the last day of Ramadan and then recite the Takbir all throughout the period of Eid. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the fasting of Ramadan. This has to do with the communal aspects of the fast, which expresses many of the basic values of the Muslim community. Fasting is believed by some scholars to extol fundamental distinctions, lauding the power of the spiritual realm, while acknowledging the subordination of the physical realm