Selamat Hari Raya

Salaam Dear Reader,

In the closing supplication in Habib Ali al-Jifri's book, The Nafs: Lessons from Prophet Yusuf and Zulaykha, he quotes a Hadith:

Certainly, your Lord has, in the days of your lives, gentle breezes.
Hear well! Seek them out!

After a couple of years living with strict social distancing, this year's Eid does feel like one of these breezes of Mercy. It is a mercy to be with friends and family, to receive them into our lives again, illuminating each other’s homes with joy and fellowship.

That Eid is a religious holiday may be something people in contemporary society may not fully appreciate. They may feel that attaching the meaning of a holiday to God may diminish the enjoyment of such a holiday, and they may feel that keeping to the middle way in all things takes away the freedom to celebrate with abandon.

Yet, attachment to God deepens joy, and as for observing the middle way, it is an affirmation of our primordial human perfection (fitra) in the most authentic way we know: by following the Prophetﷺ.

May we come upon gentle breezes, and may we find stillness in His Mercy.

Selamat Hari Raya, Eid Mubarak

We ask that you forgive our many shortcomings.

With a smile in our hearts,
The Booksellers of Wardah Books