Options
UNVEILING THE STRUCTURES OF EIDIYA
Date Issued
2020
Author(s)
Al Raeesi, Sarah
Abstract
When money is given, there is a general connotation towards a reciprocal action or
commodity. Twice a year the Islamic world celebrates Eid, a festivity that enforces kinship.
During which different amounts of money, also known as Eidiya, are given to children of
various ages in the form of new, crisp bills with no expected reciprocity. What determines
who receives which bill, or even which demography is perceived as acceptable to give
money? This research aims to explore and unveil the factors that create the situations of the
reciprocity of Eidiya. Both the donors’ and recipients’ background, influences to behaviour
and the role they play in each others lives needs to be assessed. While the community has no
sanctions for those who do not hand out Eidiya, almost all respondents participated in giving
Eidiya even when they realise that it is not considered an obligation. By using the structure of
the Emirati Dirham bills as well as creating a strata of kinships, one could start to identify a
pattern. There seems to be a strong relation between the amounts spent on Eidiya and on the
ages of the respondents as well as the average age of the sibling’s children. Not only does
gender play a role in the influencing of Eidiya, it played a role in the perception of the
opposite gender and the expectations set in giving money. Moreover, this research was able to
uncover the exchanges of Emirati bills across two generations to show the patterns of giving
and receiving.
commodity. Twice a year the Islamic world celebrates Eid, a festivity that enforces kinship.
During which different amounts of money, also known as Eidiya, are given to children of
various ages in the form of new, crisp bills with no expected reciprocity. What determines
who receives which bill, or even which demography is perceived as acceptable to give
money? This research aims to explore and unveil the factors that create the situations of the
reciprocity of Eidiya. Both the donors’ and recipients’ background, influences to behaviour
and the role they play in each others lives needs to be assessed. While the community has no
sanctions for those who do not hand out Eidiya, almost all respondents participated in giving
Eidiya even when they realise that it is not considered an obligation. By using the structure of
the Emirati Dirham bills as well as creating a strata of kinships, one could start to identify a
pattern. There seems to be a strong relation between the amounts spent on Eidiya and on the
ages of the respondents as well as the average age of the sibling’s children. Not only does
gender play a role in the influencing of Eidiya, it played a role in the perception of the
opposite gender and the expectations set in giving money. Moreover, this research was able to
uncover the exchanges of Emirati bills across two generations to show the patterns of giving
and receiving.
