, festival. The word is derived by the Arab lexicographers from the root ʿwd and explained as “the (periodically) returning”. But it is in fact one of those Aramaic loanwords which are particularly numerous in the domain of religion; cf. for example the Syriac ʿīdā “festival, holiday”.

The Muslim year has two canonical festivals, the ʿīd al-aḍḥā [q.v.] or “sacrificial festival” on 10 D̲h̲u ’l-Ḥid̲j̲d̲j̲a and the ʿīd al-fiṭr [q.v.] “festival of breaking the fast” on 1 S̲h̲awwāl. The special legal regulations for these are dealt with in the following articles. Comm…