As Ramadan comes to an end, Muslims celebrate the beautiful holiday of Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy month. It's the festival to celebrate the end of fasting and month of prayer and worship. It's celebrated all around the world in various ways depending on culture but most of the time it includes attending prayer in the morning, then spending the day eating and celebrating with family and friends.

I typically go for prayers with the rest of the Muslim community in my city first thing in the morning. It's a great time to go meet friends that you may or may not see throughout the day as well as offer the prayer that is required as mentioned in the Quran.

Different cultures dress in different ways. For me, I typically dress in an Indian or Pakistani outfit. The days before Eid, there are lots of clothing exhibitions around town that people attend as they look for a beautiful, new outfit to wear.

On the day of Eid, after prayers, we greet each other by saying "Eid Mubarak," meaning "have a blessed Eid." We are to donate money before the Eid prayers as a donation to charity. There are some basic rules that we usually follow that include, applying a scented perfume, eating something sweet before prayers (preferably a date), wearing clean clothes (usually new) and showing joy and happiness.

Something many children look forward to about Eid is that they are gifted toys or money by the elders in their family. Celebration may continue for days after Eid as it's a festival of rejuvenation and strengthening of the relationship between a person and God.

The night before Eid is called Chaand Raat, in the Urdu language. We celebrate by getting our henna done, waiting for the official moon sighting, and just enjoying some quality time with friends and family.

Overall, Eid is a wonderful time that many Muslims look forward to throughout the year. It's a time of showing appreciation and showering our family and friends with love as we've completed a month of fasting and strengthened our bond with God.