Eid and so much more...

"Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him maintain the bonds of kinship." [Sahih Al-Bukhari]

I've had quite a hectic few days since my last update. With Eid preps, dearest hubby coming back from the masjid, family visits and a little flu that managed to get me and my little munchkin down for a day or two. However things have calmed down again, and Aaminah and I are enjoying a relaxing week at my mum's.

Eid was absolutely wonderful. We managed to have a lovely family gathering in a local hall, enjoyed delicious food together and the kiddies had lots of fun. Sadly my dad and one of our beloved family (my eldest sister in-law & kids) were missing and their absence was truly felt through out the whole day.

The munchkins eagerly opening their prezzies...

My lovely nieces, looking adorable...

Aaminah's beautiful dress, sent especially by her grand dad from Pakistan for Eid...

The kiddies seemed to really enjoy themselves with the aid of pinatas, presents and hilarious role plays. Strangely enough we somehow managed to find a very macho pinata donkey this time (courtesy of sis in-law #4). After taking a beating from all the kids it still managed to stay in one piece, which resulted in a hilarious turn of events, where all the adults were allowed to have a few swings at it. After about 20 minutes of bashing the poor donkey, i can't remember exactly who manged to end the donkey's suffering but the process was really fun while it lasted.

Aaminah and I probably had three times this many sweets on and around Eid day.

As the kids were busy enjoying their new presents and showing each other what they got as gifts, the adults even managed to have a little serious discussion. Dearest father in-law delivered a teeny tiny speech on the importance of family unity, which was really lovely and a great reminder of how lucky we all are to have each others love and support in this individualistic society.

''And those who break the Covenant of Allah, after its ratification, and sever that which Allah has commanded to be joined (i.e. they sever the bond of kinship and are not good to their relatives), and work mischief in the land, on them is the curse (i.e. they will be far away from Allah's Mercy), and for them is the unhappy (evil) home (i.e. Hell) .''
( Ar-Rad, Chapter #13, Verse #25)

Apart from the lovely Eid gathering, it was really good to have my dearest hubby back at home. Despite the hecticness we managed to spend a few hours together, chatting, catching up and discussing how we had spent the last ten days of Ramadan.

Aaminah's api bo (hubby's sis) stayed with us for the last few days leading up to Eid, which made the waiting so much easier. The kids kept Aaminah really happy while api bo and I managed to do all the Eid shopping together. Nearly everyday we stayed up till the early hours of the morning doing ibadah and taking breaks to make eid cards and pack all our presents. Eid wouldn't have been the same without them.

On the 27th eve of Ramadan Api bo sent her ten year old son to the masjid to spend the night with his uncles who were observing itikaaf. My poor nephew reluctantly agreed as he was too shy to say no to his mom in front of yours truly. But then something amazing happened, when he returned from the masjid with his grandfather and thirteen year old cousin, both boys asked their mothers if they could observe itikaaf for the last three days with my husband and his older brother. MashaAllah the whole family is really proud of them both and i can't explain how exciting it was to have so many of our boys coming back from the masjid on the last eve of Ramadan...

With so much enjoyment and spending time with the family, i have been thinking about all the things Allah swt has blessed my life with. Most importantly i am so thankful for having an amazing family and beautiful relationships all around me. While Sai was in masjid my sister Maryam came to stay with us for a few days, as she knew we were a bit lonely. The day after she left our beloved api bo and co came to stay for a few days. I can't thank Allah for blessing me with such loving sisters, brothers, both sets of parents, nephews and nieces. Can't help but make a million duas that Allah swt always keeps us this way, with our hearts filled with love and respect for each other and always united.