Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

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 feast that marks the end of Ramzan is a day when no fasting is allowed at all" (al-Muslim, 2:553), and it is customary for families to dress well in that day and visit each other and offer greetings.