(CNN) -- Muslims around the world woke up Sunday and welcomed the end of a long month of fasting with hearty greetings of "Eid Mubarak," or happy festivities.
The faithful were ushering in Eid al-Fitr -- three days of celebrations that Muslims mark with joyous community prayers, acts of charity, visits from far-flung relatives, gift-giving and elaborate feasts.
"Think Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's -- all rolled into one. It's that huge for us," said Sajjad Aziz of Hoboken, New Jersey.
Islam follows a lunar calendar, and the timing of Eid al-Fitr varies around the world depending on when the crescent of a new moon is sighted.
So, while most countries -- including the United States -- observed Eid on Sunday, some will begin their celebrations on Monday.
The night before Eid, entire communities gather on rooftops, scanning the sky with giddy anticipation.
This last part sounds a lot like the night before Christmas to me!
On the morning of Eid, Muslims don new clothes and head to prayers that are often held in open fields to accommodate crowds too big to contain in mosques.
Those who can afford it donate a small percentage of their possession or its equivalent to the poor and needy so they too can avail themselves for the celebrations. Feasts await at every house.
"It's a festival principally about community. We're even asked to take a different route when we walk back from prayers so that we can meet different sets of people to greet and celebrate with," said Wasim Iqbal of Karachi, Pakistan.
Sounds like a nice way to share love and share the good things and tidings we have all been fortunate enough to be given and have.
For Muslims in North America -- and countries where they are the minority -- Eid is a more subdued affair.
"If you have family close by, then you can kind of capture the mood that you remember from back home," said Abdallah Gamal, a native of Egypt who lives in St. Louis, Missouri. "But it's not the same."
Because the U.S. Census does not ask about religious affiliation, it is difficult to gauge the Muslim population in the United States. The Pew Muslim American study conducted two years ago estimated it at 2.5 million, while the Council on American-Islamic Relations places it as high as 6 million.
On Saturday, both President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton offered greetings to American Muslims.
Like the President and the Ambassador I decided to offer my own personal greetings and to celebrate here locally in the modest way that I can.
Some will say I have a naive world view that is dangerous.
All I am saying though is give peace a chance and what better way to display you want peace than celebrating the differences other people have and reaching out to them and saying you love them and celebrate with them all the same.
It can't really hurt, but it could really help, when people instead of governments cause peace and love to break out everywhere!
