The festival of sacrifice - Eid ul Adha

This is a four-day public holiday in Muslim countries.
The festival remembers the prophet Ibrahim 's willingness to sacrifice
his son when God ordered him to.
Ibrahim's sacrifice
God appeared in a dream to Ibrahim and told him to sacrifice his son
Isma'il. Ibrahim and Isma'il set off to Mina forthe sacrifice.
As they went, the devil attempted to persuade Ibrahim to disobey God
and not to sacrifice his beloved son. But Ibrahimstayed true to God,
and drove the devil away.
As Ibrahim prepared to kill his son God stopped him and gave him a
sheep to sacrifice instead.
Celebrations
Ibrahim's complete obedience to the will of God is celebrated by
Muslims each year.
Each Muslim, as they celebrate, reminds themselves of their own
submission to God, and their own willingness to sacrifice anything to
God's wishes.
During the festival Muslims who can afford to, sacrifice domestic
animals, usually sheep, as a symbol of Ibraham's sacrifice. (British
law insists that the animals must be killed in a proper
slaughterhouse.)
The meat is distributed among family, friends and the poor, who each
get a third share.
As with all festivals thereare prayers, and also presents.

Meaning of the Festival

The festival commemorates God's gift of a ram in place of Isma'il
(Ishmael), whom God had commanded Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice. (In
Judaism and Christianity , the child in this story is Ishmael's
brother Isaac.)
The Devil tried to persuade Ibrahim to disobey God and not to
sacrifice his beloved son,but Ibrahim stayed absolutely obedient to
God and drove the devil away. Eid al-Adha is a celebration of this
supreme example of submission to God, which is the cornerstoneof the
Islamic faith ( islam means"submission").
Eid al-Adha Observances
On Eid al-Adha, families that can afford it sacrifice an animal such
as a sheep, goat, camel, or cow, and then divide the meat among
themselves, the poor, friends and neighbors. In Britain, the law
requires that this be done in a slaughterhouse. The sacrifice is
called Qurban . During the sacrifice, thefollowing prayer is recited:
In the name of Allah
And Allah is the greatest
O Allah, indeed this is from you and for you
O Allah accept it from me.
Eid al-Adha is a public holiday in Muslim countries. Like 'Id al-Fitr
,'Id Al-Adha begins with communal prayer at daybreak on its first
day,which takes place at the local mosque. Worshippers wear their
finest clothes for the occasion. It is also a timefor visiting friends
and family and for exchanging gifts.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
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Islam: The second largest world religion...and growing.

Quotations:
"The messenger of Allah said: "Islam is to testify that there is no
god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, to perform the
prayers, to pay the zakat, to fast in Ramadan, and to make the
pilgrimage to the House if you are able to do so." He said: " You have
spoken rightly", Jebreel (Gabriel) from Number 2 of " Al-Nawawi's
Forty Hadiths ." 1
"If anyone harms (others), God will harm him, and if anyone
showshostility to others, God will show hostility to him." Sunan of
Abu-Dawood, Hadith 1625.
"Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish
(scriptures), and the Christians...and (all) who believe in God and
the last day and work righteousness, shall have their reward with
their Lord; on them shall be nofear, nor shall they grieve." The
Qur'an, 2:62
"Jim Jones, David Koresh and Meir Kahane do not typify Christianity
and Judaism in the eyes of the civilized West, but those same eyes are
prone to see Osama bin Laden and Mullah Muhammad Omar as typifying
Islam , " Richard Bulliet 2
Webmaster's note about attributing guilt and responsibility:
One of the themes running through some holy books is that
of"scapegoating." 5 This is the concept that guilt and punishment can
be transferred from those responsible for an evil act, to others who
are innocent of that act. This theme is rarely -- if ever -- discussed
in religious homilies or sermons. Yet it seems fundamentally unjust
and evil accordingto every moral code that Ihave seen. By not holding
perpretrators directly responsibility for their actions, innocent
people become marginalized and denigrated.
For example:
*. When some Muslims think of Christianity in America, they think of
Pastor Terry Jones of Dove World Outreach Center in Florida as a
typical Christian. He burned a copy of the Qur'an.
*. When some Christians think of Islam in the Middle East, they think
of Bin Laden or Musab al-Zarqawi, leaders of Al-Qaeda, as typical
Muslims.
They confuse the beliefs or practices of an individual or a small
minority of believers for the entire religion. As one example, in the
minds of many Americans, responsibility for 9/11 terrorist attack has
spread from 19 radical, violent, fundamentalist Muslims and their
Al-Qaida handlers to all 1.6 billion followers of Islam.
We ask our visitors to consider two items whenreading this section of
our website -- and for that matter all of the other 6,000 essays:
*. The irrationality of blaming innocent persons for the sins of atiny
minority within their group. One of this web site's mottos is:"When
some people deviate from reality, others are often hurt."
*. When one refers to any religion or faith
group/tradition/denomination within areligion, we are generally
referring to more than the beliefs and teachings of its founder. The
culture in which the religion developed has generally had a major
impact as well. So, for example, the four main versions of Sharia law
are all based on the Qur'an -- and to a lesserdegree on the Hadith.
However, they have been profoundly influenced by the cultures in which
Islam grew.
About Islam:
Estimates of the total number of Muslims rangefrom 0.7 to 1.8 billion
worldwide and 1.1 to 7 million in the U.S. 3 We accept the best
estimate as 1.57 billion, concluded by the Pew Forums. About 23% of
all people on Earth follow Islam. Thereligion is currently in a period
of rapid growth.
Christianity is currently the largest religion in theworld. It is
followed by about 33% of all people -- a percentage that has remained
stable for decades. If current trendscontinue, Islam will become the
most popularworld religion sometime in the mid-21 st century.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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EID-UL-ADHA: THE FEAST OF SACRIFICEIN ISLAM

Overview:
Eid-Ul-Adha (a.k.a. the Feast of Sacrifice or Day of Sacrifice ) is
observed after the Hajj -- the annual pilgrimage to Makkah (Mecca) in
Saudi Arabia.
A duty of each Muslim, as described in the Five Pillars of Islam , is
to go on Hajj at least once once during their lifetime, unless they
are prevented by finances or ill health. " The Hajj consists of
several ceremonies, meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the
Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of prophet Abraham and
his family...The pilgrimage also enables Muslims from all around the
world, of different colors, languages, races, and ethnicities, to come
together in a spirit of universal brotherhood and sisterhood to
worship the One God together. " 1
It is the second of the two major Muslim holy days. The other is
Eid-ul-Fitr which follows Ramadan -- a lunar month of partial fasting.
When is it celebrated?
Eid-Ul-Adha is observed after the conclusion of the Hajj. The first
day of this celebration is held on the 10th day of Duhl-Hijja, which
is the last month of the Muslim year. In most areas, th e Feast of
Sacrifice is celebrated over several days. 2
Islamic months begin at sunset on the day when the lunar crescent
appears after the new moon, and can be sighted by the unaided eye . "
Visibility depends on a large number of factors including weather
condition, the altitude of the moon at sunset, the closeness of the
moon to the sun at sunset, the interval between sunset and moonset,
atmospheric pollution, the quality of the eyesight of the observer,
use of optical aids etc. " 3 As a result, although the phases of the
moon can be predicted accurately, the moon's visibility at a given
place on Earth cannot be estimated in advance. Thus, the feast day has
always been celebrated on different days in various areas of the
world.
Because the date of the Feast of Sacrifice is determined by a lunar
calendar, it is observed about 11 days earlier each year. According to
the Gregorian calendar:
Year Id al-Adha
1417 H 1997-APR-17
1418 1998-APR-07
1419 1999-MAR-28
1420 2000-MAR-16
1421 2001-MAR-05
1422 2002-FEB-22
1423 2003-FEB-11
1424 2004-FEB-01
1425 2005-JAN-21
1426 2006-JAN-10
1427 2006-DEC-31
1428 2007-DEC-20
1429 2008-DEC-08
1430 2009-NOV-28
1431 2010-NOV-17
1432 2011-NOV-07
Its significance:
"The celebration of Eid-Ul-Adha is in commemoration of the command
give by Allah toProphet Abraham (may Allah be pleased with him) to
sacrifice his first born son Ishmael to Him. The fulfilment [sic] of
thisnoble command of Allah by Abraham signifies his faith in Allah
...."