Millions of Muslims around the world are celebrating today the great feast of Islam: Eid al-Adha! Every year, this festival takes place in the last month of the Islamic calendar, Du l-hiyya, and marks the end of the Hajj, the famous pilgrimage to Mecca. Today we are telling you all about this very special celebration!
Origin
This festival has a religious meaning. Its origin goes back to a passage in the Koran in which Allah asks the prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice Ishmael, his only son, as an act of obedience to God. He decided to do His will, but just before making it happen Allah sent a lamb to be sacrificed in place of Ishmael. This sacred day commemorates the submission of the prophet and the clemency of God. So, obedience to Allah has a great significance for those who celebrate this feast!
Celebration
Its origin gives us a clue about how the Muslim community celebrates this feast: Muslim families celebrate this day with the sacrifice of a lamb! Every year, Eid al-Adha begins by going to the mosques to pray and then, after dawn, the lamb is sacrificed. This is the most common animal.
The head of the family is in charge of this, alone or accompanied by the rest of his relatives, or a slaughterer who has to do it according to the dictates of Islam: looking for the least suffering of the animal, placing his head towards Mecca and letting his body expel all the blood to consider it halal
