The host should offer water to wash the hands of his guests from the right to the left, washing his own last. When a man has guests with him, he should eat joyfully with them; he should be the last to begin to eat, and he should be the last to lave his hands before, and last to do so after, a meal (Kitab Majmu'at al-Hawashi, p. 59).

"The key verbal roots occur more than two dozen times each in the Koran with –k-l and sh-r-b appears together eight times. The most famous occurrence is in 7:31, where God says the children of Adam to dress properly when attending the mosque, and to “eat and drink, but avoid excess for He does not love the intemperate,” and “Eat of what your Lord has given you (kulu min rizqi rabbikum) and render thanks to Him” (34:15).

The month of Rabi I has an immortal significance in the whole of human history. In this month that Blessed Being made his auspicious appearance from the person of Amina who diverted totally the very stream of the human history; who uplifted humanity from the lowest pit of degradation and rose it to the zenith of glory and grandeur; who heralded a new message of peace and prosperity for the suffering mankind.

According to the Shi'ite belief, at the spring (khum) of al-Ghadir, the Prophet as his successor declared Ali bin Abu Talib and the festival commemorated this occasion. The fusion of religion which was characteristic of all religious festivals in Fatimid Egypt, is best exemplified by the festival of Eid al-Ghadir.

The word eid is derived from aud meaning to return. In Islam, it means a recurring happiness. The word adha, the plural of adhat means a sacrifice. On this occasion, all the Muslims who can afford, sacrifice an animal. In the case of a goat or a sheep, one animal is suffices for one household. In the case of a cow or a camel, seven men may be partners. It may be sacrificed on the day of Eid or during the two or three days that follows, called the tashriq days.

The word fitr means to begin, from which is also derived fitra meaning nature. The word iftar means the breaking of the fast, as if the faster had returned to a natural course or fulfilled the demand of nature, and it is from this that the name Eid al-Fitr seems to have been taken.

The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) carries out the Network's economic development activities. It consists of three groups of companies, especially active in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia: Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), Tourism Promotion Services (TPS) and Financial Services Companies.

Also known as Lady Ema or Emra. ___149:4. Historical figure, referred to as a saint in the ginan "Satiye toriya motira no har." She was a gupti who practised Taqiya* and left this world in a Wiman [flying saucer].