EID-UL-ADHA/THE FESTIVAL OF SACRIFICE (10th Dhul-Hijjah)

6th June 2025

Muslim

This major festival (al-Eid al-Kabir) marks the end of the Hajj (Pilgrimage to Makkah) on the tenth day of the twelfth month of Dhul-Hijja. The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. Pilgrims performing Hajj sacrifice animals at the village of Mina on their way back to Makkah from Mount Arafat (where they have spent the first day of the festival). This commemorates Ibrahim’s (Abraham’s) willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail. All over the world Muslims also sacrifice an animal, if they can afford it. They share out the meat among family, friends and the poor, who normally each get a third share.

Eid normally starts with Muslims going to the Mosque for prayers, dressed in their best clothes, and thanking Allah for all the blessings they have received. It is also a time when they visit family and friends as well as offering each other presents. At Eid it is obligatory to give a set amount of money to charity, often to be used to help poor people buy new clothes and food so that they too can celebrate.

All physically fit Muslims who can afford it are expected to make the visit to Makkah, in Saudi Arabia, at least once in their lives. Every year around 2 million Muslims from all over the world converge on Makkah. They stand before the Kaaba, a shrine built by Ibrahim, praising Allah together, and walk seven times anticlockwise around the Kaaba. The pilgrims or Hajjis, as they are called, wear simple white, two piece clothes called Ihram which promote the bonds of Islamic brotherhood and sisterhood by showing that everyone is equal in the eyes of Allah.

Obedience to the will of Allah, emulation of the Prophet’s example and instruction, sharing equally with brother and sister Muslims, caring for the poor and needy, sharing with delight in this annual family celebration, these are what makes Eid ul Adha such a special time, the most significant celebration in the Islamic calendar.

Surah 37:99-111, 22:26-33 and 3:96-97.