On Wednesday evening, at a stall in the Malcolm Shabazz Harlem Market, Fatou Drammah held up a full-length mirror for Adama Lowe, who was trying on a bright pink boubou made in Senegal.
Muftawu Fuseini gave Haris Mohamed a taper fade haircut at Lapaz Beauty and Barber Salon in the Fordham section of the Bronx, as lively folk music in Hausa, a West African language, played from a speaker.
And over in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, Essa Masoud, the owner of Balady Halal Foods, was on the phone, standing by a giant decorative olive tree in the middle of his Middle Eastern specialty supermarket that was decked out in lanterns, crescent moons and stars, making sure the store’s supplies of popular imported goods were in stock.
All three business owners have had a busy week helping Muslims prepare for Eid al-Fitr, the jubilant holiday on Friday, March 20, that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. “Something about the air is just different,” Ms. Drammah, a clothing designer from the Bronx, said about the holiday.
On the days leading up to Eid, Muslims around the city were shopping for delicacies, clothes and jewelry and having their hair and henna done. Many business owners have said they appreciate helping people feel their best on a special day after a disciplined month of fasting and reflection.
“Growing up, it was a huge part of the Eid experience getting henna done and picking out outfits last minute — there’s so much excitement to it,” said Rejwana Parvin, a henna artist in Queens. “Now, being able to create that experience for other people, it’s very meaningful to me because it’s about being a part of those memories.”
During the week before Eid al-Fitr, the first in the city under a Muslim mayor, seven vendors and businesses around New York City discussed how they were contributing to the vibrant and festive day.
The Supermarket
In front of Mr. Masoud’s store, a sign that read “Happy Ramadan from Balady” swung over the street.
“All this decorating is still new,” said Mr. Masoud, 47, who recently opened a home and décor store next door to his supermarket that he keeps stocked with Eid decorations. “It’s good for the kids,” he said, “to give that feeling that Ramadan can be celebrated not only within our homes and in our businesses, but also on the city street.”
At Balady, which his family opened in 2003, most of the items are imported. Around Eid, the sweets, like buttery Lebanese biscuits and Yemeni date and walnut cookies, are especially popular.
“We have much more variety,” he said about the delicacies now available in the market for the holiday. When he was growing up in Brooklyn, the options were limited.
The Designer
Ms. Drammah, 27, sold four boubous in five minutes on Wednesday evening. Her stall is small, but the crowd of mostly young women were specifically looking to Ms. Drammah for Eid styling tips.
Ms. Drammah started her business, Fhatimah’s Obsession, as a hijab brand in 2019. Over time, she started designing her own boubous and abayas — both are traditional dresses — adding a maximalist flair. “I wanted to intertwine my West African culture with modest wear,” she said. Her latest drop, an Eid collection she designed for the holiday, sold out in an hour.
After a month that feels like a “spiritual cleanse,” Ms. Drammah said, “I feel like my role is to make sure that everyone who comes into my store steps out feeling confident and beautiful.”
The Barber
Every year, Mr. Fuseini, 27, goes into his barbershop at 9 a.m. on the day before the holiday. He doesn’t get home until 8 a.m. the next day, on Eid.
“It takes two days or three days to recover from the work I did for people to look good for Eid,” said Mr. Fuseini.
On Wednesday afternoon, six men sat in chairs, and several were standing, watching a Champions League soccer match on the TV while waiting for Mr. Fuseini, who moved from Accra, Ghana, to New York in 2022.
Some of them were waiting for two hours, but that’s not as bad as the four-hour wait the day before. The younger clients typically come to Mr. Fuseini “because he does a good job,” said his client, Mr. Mohamed. Mr. Fuseini, who won’t even have time to get his own hair cut, said providing that feeling gives him enough gratification.
The Henna Artist
Ms. Parvin set up “Eidi” boxes with treats in her Hollis home, where she applied henna on clients all week. (Eidi is a gift, typically cash, that is given to children on the holiday.)
Ms. Parvin, 23, started her business in 2023, but she has been doing henna since she was 12, drawing paisleys and flowers on relatives’ hands. She soon became the designated henna artist in her large family, who would spend the night before the holiday together making Bangladeshi sweets and appetizers and playing board games, like Ludo, until 3 a.m.
As she got older, Ms. Parvin learned more about organic henna and developed her own recipe. Now, by popular demand, she sells cones of her henna paste, and even shared her recipe on Instagram. “I’m not a gatekeeper,” she said.
The Clothing and Jewelry Shop
MD Titumir Alom, a former taxi driver, opened Ziyanas Fashion House when his work dried up following the Covid-19 pandemic. At the store in Ozone Park, Queens, last-minute shoppers browsed through three-piece salwar kameez from Pakistan and long-sleeved thobes from Dubai, with bedazzled bags and colorful bangles on display to pair with them.
Stores like his have long been popular in Jackson Heights, Queens, but in recent years, wealthier residents have moved into the neighborhood, and expenses have soared for business owners. Mr. Alom, 50, said that he had been able to keep prices more affordable. As a result, more customers from across the five boroughs have been coming to his store, which draws an especially large crowd after Muslims break fast during iftar.
Mr. Alom, who has three children, said that he loves dressing them in traditional clothes. “We are making a business,” he said, “but at the same time, we are holding our roots.”
The Bakery
Ali Zaman and Mohamed Ghiasi are gearing up for their first Eid at Diljān, the Afghan bakery they opened in Brooklyn Heights in December. They introduced a special sweet for the holiday: an Afghan cardamom cream roll.
It is among the pastries the pair offer that reimagines classic flavors that “aren’t explored as much in the baking world in New York,” Mr. Zaman, 30, said. That includes their halwa sticky buns and their sheer pira, a decadent Afghan milk fudge housed in a buttery pastry dough with vanilla diplomat cream and pistachio frangipane. “It tastes like my childhood,” Mr. Zaman said.
This Eid al-Fitr comes at a heavy time for many Muslim Americans, including Mr. Zaman, with growing undisguised bigotry against Muslims in the country and war and destruction roiling their communities back home.
“Having this really joyous, mindful, reflective month, as well as this celebration at the end, is, I think, a really nice way to display to the world who we are and what we stand for,” he said.
The Mosque
Masjid At-Taqwa, which first opened its doors in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in 1981, holds a morning prayer on Fulton Street and Bedford Avenue to accommodate the roughly 5,000 people who gather in colorful caftans, abayas and kurtas — traditional clothes from around the world.
“It’s a very beautiful day,” said Osman Adam, who moved to New York from Khartoum, Sudan, in the early 1990s, and helps lead and organize the morning prayer. “Every day, Muslims gather from all walks of life, different languages, different complexions, but still, we pray toward one direction.”
In order to make it happen, the staff at the mosque gets a permit from the Police Department, and starting at 6 a.m., helps barricade the street, roll out a large tarp and set up the sound system and security.
“New York has been accommodating to us,” said Bilal Hinson, who assists in coordinating program efforts at the mosque. “When I first got here, we didn’t have alternate-side parking suspended for Eid. We have public school off for Eid now. So we make tiny steps.”
Sadiba Hasan reports on love and culture for the Styles section of The Times.
The post How New Yorkers Prepare for One of Their Most Vibrant Holidays appeared first on New York Times.
