Eid Al-Adha 2011: Dates, Prayers And Customs Explained (PHOTOS)

Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, will likely fall on Nov. 6, 2011 in the United States. One of two feast festivals celebrated by Muslims, Eid al-Adha falls on the 10th day of the Islamic calendar’s last month, Dhu al-Hijjah. Eid al-Adha concludes the annual pilgrimage to Mecca known as the Hajj. Determining the exact date of Eid al-Adha, is a point of contention and some wait for an official announcement from the authorities in Mecca.

The festival commemorates Abraham's willingness to follow God's command to sacrifice his son Ishmael and Ishmael's consent to being sacrificed. Today, it is is marked by slaughtering animals to feed the poor. Coming at the end of the Hajj, a journey of dedication and purification, Eid al-Adha is understood as an opportunity for second chances.

According to the Quran, when Ishmael (known as Isma'el in Arabic) was 13, his father, Abraham (Ibrahim), began having inconceivable dreams in which God instructed him to sacrifice Ishmael (Quran Surah 37). Unbelievable as the dreams were, Abraham decided to follow Allah's instructions -- but not before asking Ishmael if he would agree to this. The son did not hesitate, showing ultimate submission to God's will by telling his father to go through with the sacrifice. Then, at the very moment that Abraham raised the knife, Allah tells him to stop -- they had passed the test -- and to replace Ishmael with a sacrificial ram. In the Quran, Abraham is rewarded for his faith with a second son, Isaac.

Muslims observe and prepare for Eid al-Adha in a number of ways. Before the festival, the faithful acquire new clothing and visit with family and friends. At dawn on the day of Eid, Muslims recite the traditional declaration of faith, the Takbir, followed by the pre-sunrise communal prayer, Salat al-Eid, which is also said on Eid al-Fitr. Worshipers then greet friends with the traditional Arabic salutation of Eid Mubarak (“Have a blessed Eid”) and exchange gifts.

In a symbolic act, Muslims who can afford it slaughter a cow, goat, sheep or camel, keeping a portion to feed themselves and distributing the rest to friends, family and the needy. Those who can't afford it, buy meat from a Halal butcher to distribute. Giving out this meat, in addition to the morning prayers, is considered an essential component of Eid al-Adha.

Comments

[irisames]

11:34 AM on 11/07/2011

I am bewildered. In the bible I am familiar with Ismael is circumcised at age thirteen along with Abraham and his entire male household. Then Issac is born, Ismael and his wife Hagar are banished and then Abraham is told to sacrifice his son Isaac and what the Koran says happens to Ishmael actually happens to Issac.

Now if my recollection is corrrect my bible's version of the story was around for at least 600 years before the Koran ever appeared, so how can it be anything other than revisionist history just the same as the Palestineans were gentle peace loving people who were forcefully thrown out of their homes in 1948 in the war that the Arabs won.

[takyoueddine]

01:43 PM on 11/07/2011

Hi there,

We Muslims believe that the bible is the divine words of God, however corrupted for geopolitical reasons. The names is the only difference in that story. We believe that that Isaac lived in Palestine while Ishmael moved with his mother Hajar to Mecca just after he was born and later on his life Abraham and Ismael built the house of God (Qaaba) in Mecca. Abraham saw in his dreams that he sacrifices his son Ismael many times until he believed it's God's will, then he went to do it. For details I highly recommend Jerarld Dirks book "Abraham the friend of God"

Thanks

[pakaal]

04:40 PM on 11/07/2011

First fan.

[pakaal]

04:39 PM on 11/07/2011

"thrown out of their homes in 1948 in the war that the Arabs won."

I know the Palestinians were thrown out of their homes in the years leading up to Israel planting their flag in 1948, but how does their loss make it a war "the Arabs won?" I am bewildered by your statement.

[intellectualTradition]

10:27 AM on 11/07/2011

this is about as useful as reporting on some random persons BM. and the output is exactly the same

[MIKEinNYC]

07:53 AM on 11/07/2011

A few weeks ago I unleashed a torrent of replies by commenting about the ridiculousness of the Jews' kaporot ritual where they swing live chickens over their heads to erase their sins. This animal sacrifice thing is clearly just as silly and medieval.

You've gotta love religion !. It's comedy gold!

(With one post I've offended two groups of people. What efficiency!)

[MightyYowp]

05:48 PM on 11/06/2011

Make mine turkey.

[oilfield]

02:39 PM on 11/06/2011

is there an islamic peta?

[MexiChick67]

02:13 PM on 11/06/2011

'Eid Mubarak' to the Mulsim community.

[Carroll27]

02:12 PM on 11/06/2011

Please accept this email as my earnest solicitation that if I'm nice to you, I'll look enlightened and maybe you won't kil me.

[takyoueddine]

02:26 PM on 11/07/2011

People often use religion for their own agendas. Islam is a religion of Justice and Peace:
"Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly. (8)"
Quran (60:8)

[takyoueddine]

02:32 PM on 11/07/2011

FYI: Allah is literally the word God and it's used by both Arab Christians and Arab Muslims.

[Sockme]

02:00 PM on 11/06/2011

Looking on the positive side, there are fewer goats for me to run over now.

[Iluvflyfishing]

01:05 PM on 11/06/2011

I thought it was going to be something that went around the abdomen.

[Ken White]

12:33 PM on 11/06/2011

All religion is markup. It's the middleman between you and whomever you believe started the show. It's process before prayer, switchback before straight road, a carnival of barkers where a craned neck before a night sky will do. It's all distraction and fluffery, superfluous brittle puffery that no real God would answer to.

[dancingbones]

12:19 PM on 11/06/2011

Interesting that so many of us Huffies, who have this teensy liberal lean, are anti-Islam, to some degree or other, and I include myself. Of course, many of us are anti-religion in general. Maybe the less we know about something the more we reject it...ya think? In many, many ways Islam and Judaism are telling the same story, or parallel stories. Anyway, hatred is hatred and it doan feel so good, do it?

[s0uthparkc0nservative]

02:32 PM on 11/06/2011

It's certainly the easiest way to go, and if you've grown up in a Christian household (like myself), the less you know the less you have to care. But I've always found asking questions and getting answers (that may be far different than you anticipated) is the best way to go. The more you know, the less you'll fear.

[wiseman103199]

06:41 PM on 11/06/2011

F&F

[SuperBenFranklin]

12:12 PM on 11/06/2011

>sacrifice his son Ishmael and Ishmael's consent to being sacrificed

Bunch of horse poopy.

[TellMeSumn]

01:17 PM on 11/06/2011

I'm not trying to make a parallel, but belief can make people do things that some like you cannot fathom as is the case of suicide bombers/kamikaze. I'm sure that is "horse poopy" too, since neither suicide bombers, nor WW II kamikaze existed.

[SuperBenFranklin]

04:06 PM on 11/06/2011

I agree. Belief in make believe can make people do really stupid things, be it religion or nationalism.

[dancingbones]

12:11 PM on 11/06/2011

Same story, different names, and the sheep still bites it. What a load of tripe.

[blood thinner]

11:36 AM on 11/06/2011

"Eid Mubarak" to all my Muslim brothers and sisters from a Christian.

If you especially click on somebody's Holiday news just to post negative comment about them, that shows what kind of L00ser mentality you have

[myaa]

12:22 PM on 11/06/2011

X2.

[Moe1]

12:23 PM on 11/06/2011

LOL. Thank you and Eid Mubarak to you, too.

[HarleyOpenRoad]

11:17 AM on 11/06/2011

Are they praying for our well-being?

[Heso]

11:22 AM on 11/06/2011

They weren't praying for something bad to happen to anyone.

[Olethea]

11:35 AM on 11/06/2011

Do you pray for theirs?