Eid Mubarak!!!

When I was in Al Ain five years ago, as I wandered around the night before Eid Al Fitr, I could hear lambs inside almost every villa. Early in the morning, I saw the men of these households leading their lambs out. By noon, there was the silence of the lambs.

The next Eid Al Fitr, I was in Abu Dhabi. Downtown Abu Dhabi has towers of flats rather than villas. The night before Eid, I saw goats tethered to a small tree just outside my apartment building. And, as before, by noon of Eid, all the goats were gone.

(This is something I haven’t seen in Dubai, which prohibits families from sacrificing their own goats.)

The tradition is that families who can afford to do so buy a lamb. They take what they need for themselves, but give most of the meat to the poor. Sacrificing a lamb isn't required for Eid Al Fitr; however, giving food to the poor is required, and this was how I saw it done in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi.