Umm Professional blogs

It’s always fun preparing for Eid, and even more so when you are preparing Eid gifts for your non-Muslim friends, neighbors or teachers- you can use it as an excuse to do “The Dawah Power” as I call it to teach my kids the importance of spreading Islam the friendly way. Don’t make excuses, ” I don’t have money or the time to give anything to my non-Muslim friends-they would never be interested in Islam anyway…”

In this difficult financial time, we can still find ways to give a little, and still get a big smile and appreciation from our neighbors and friends. My favorite ideas are made by the children, who have the zeal of giving. Here are a few ideas from different sisters who have emailed us…

1. Eid Mubarak E-Card ($0- free!)- one sister emailed her non-Muslim family members and friends Eid Mubarak e-cards and they responded, “Thank you-What is Eid Mubarak?” Ahh…now all the possible answers to that question!

List of Best e-Eid Card Sites:

www.123greetings.com

www.eidgreetings.com

www.eidwishes.com

2. Sweet Treats ($2.50 per gift -cake mix, paper box, cellophane wrapper, ribbons)- This sister found cupcakes, brownies, and muffins to be an inexpensive but well appreciated gift. “Even if you use instant cake mix, you can’t go wrong with decorated frosting. Put cupcake with frosting on a nice paper plate with cellophane wrapper, or muffins in a bakery box” she explains. One cake mix box can make enough cup cakes or muffins for about two neighbors….that’s less than $1.50 per person!

3. Eid Cake ($3.00 for cake mix and frosting)- You just don’t have time putting the batter in those cupcake liners? Just pour it on to a square or circular pan, and get your kids to frost and decorate it. Says one young chef here who made a desert and date palm tree scene on the cake with fruit loops and dates, “We just took whatever we could find in our kitchen! Our downstairs neighbors’ kids were ecstatic, and did not want to eat it because they said they didn’t want to mess it up!!”

4. Eid Gifts ($6.00 for gift wrap- bought here)-This clever mom looked for any stashed away gift items that she had in the attic or basement that she had not used and were brand new. She found perfumes, dishes, pocket books, scarves, framed art, vases. Then she wrapped them up with colorful gift wrappers and the children gave it to the astonished neighbors. She gave a short explanation, “After Hajj, we celebrate our Holiday called Eid. We give gifts to our family member and friends, and we just want to let you know we consider you as part of our family.”  Suddenly your unknown neighbor is your best friend!

5. Fruit Bouquet ($5.00-$10.00)- If you want to get a little more fancy as this sister attempted to make her own fruit arrangement with the help of her little girl. She explains, “What started off as fruit kebabs became fruit flower gifts. Actually my friend showed up a day before Eid with box full of fruit. Knowing there was no way we could eat all these fruit, we decided to give them away. I got some ideas from fruit decoration companies (They charge $50-$100!), and took out some old vases, Styrofoam and bunch of sticks, and put my little assistant to work. She happily stuck the grapes one by one, and after she completed them, decided to eat them as well. Oh, well… that’s what I get for relying on ‘child labor’!”