Eid ul-Adha: Encyclopedia - Eid ul-Adha

Eid ul-Adha

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Eid ul-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى) occurs on the tenth day of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijja. It is one of two Eid festivals that Muslims celebrate. Eid ul-Adha is celebrated by Muslims worldwide as a commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son for God.

Eid ul-Adha - The story behind Eid ul-Adha

Muslims believe that God revealed in a dream to Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Isma’il. Ibrahim and Isma’il set off to Mina for the sacrifice. As they went, the devil attempted to persuade Ibrahim to disobey God and not to sacrifice his beloved son. But Ibrahim stayed true to God, and drove the devil away. As Ibrahim prepared to sacrifice his son, God stopped him and gave him a sheep to sacrifice instead. The story is also a part of the other Abrahamic religions (see the Binding of Isaac).

Eid ul-Adha - Observing Eid ul-Adha

It is celebrated on the 10th day of the month of Dhul Hijja (ذو الحجة) of the lunar Islamic calendar, after Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. This happens to be approximately 70 days after the end of the month of Ramadan.

While Eid ul-Fitr is considered to be one day, Eid ul-Adha is supposed to be four days. The first day is the primary holiday, on which men, women, and children are expected to dress in their finest clothing and perform prayer (Salah) in a large congregation. Muslims who can afford to do so sacrifice domestic animals, usually sheep, as a symbol of Ibrahim's sacrifice; this sacrifice is called "Qurbani." The meat is distributed amongst their neighbors, relatives, and the poor and hungry. The charitable instincts of the Muslim community are demonstrated during Eid ul-Adha by the concerted effort to see that no impoverished Muslim is left without sacrificial food during this day. Coming immediately after the Day of Arafat (when Muhammad pronounced the final seal on the religion of Islam), Eid ul-Adha gives concrete realization to what the Muslim community ethic means in practice.

Eid ul-Adha - Other names for Eid ul-Adha

It is often referred to as the "Kurban Bayramı" (from Turkish) or "Sacrifice Feast". Eid ul-Adha is also known as Hari Raya Haji/Qurban in Singapore and Malaysia , Hari Raya Idul Adha in Indonesia and Tabaski in West Africa. In the Indian subcontinent it is known as Bakr-Id.

Eid ul-Adha - Eid ul-Adha in the Gregorian Calendar

While Eid ul-Adha is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year since the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar. Each year, Eid ul-Adha (like other Islamic holidays) falls on one of two different Gregorian dates in different parts of the world, due to the fact that the boundary of crescent visibility is different from the International date line. Furthermore, some countries follow the date in Saudi Arabia rather than the astronomically determined local calendar.

• 2005: January 21; January 20 in Saudi Arabia (See note 1 below.)
• 2006: January 10, then December 31 (see note 2 below)
• 2007: December 20
• 2008: December 8
• 2009: November 28
• 2010: November 17
• 2011: November 7

NOTE 1: The Saudi authorities had originally confirmed that Eid ul-Adha in 2005 would begin on Friday, January 21 ([1]), but subsequently moved up the date by one day to January 20, possibly for better crowd control by avoiding Hajj during the weekend ([2], [3], [4]). The official reason was that the new moon was sighted earlier than expected, starting the month of Dhul Hijja one day early.

NOTE 2: Because the Islamic lunar year is ten to eleven days shorter than the solar year, there are two Eid ul-Adha in the year 2006.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Eid ul-Adha", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki