Eid al-Adha

Eid al-Adha, the second of two great festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Fitr. Eid al-Adha marks the culmination of the hajj (pilgrimage) rites at Minā, Saudi Arabia, near Mecca, but is celebrated by Muslims throughout the world. As with Eid al-Fitr, it is distinguished by the performance of communal prayer (ṣalāt) at daybreak on its first day. It begins on the 10th of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar, and typically continues for an additional three or four days. The Muslim use of a lunar calendar means that the hajj, and thus the Eid al-Adha festival, may occur during any season of the year. During the festival, families that can afford to sacrifice a ritually acceptable animal will do so. Eid al-Adha is also a time for visiting with friends and family. This festival also commemorates the ransom with a ram of the biblical patriarch Abraham’s (Ibrāhīm’s) son Ishmael (Ismāʿīl)—rather than Isaac (Isḥāq), as in Judaism and Christianity. See also mawlid; ʿĀshūrāʾ.

Origin story

Islam, as an Abrahamic religion, incorporates many biblical narratives but diverges from Judaism and Christianity in certain interpretations and tellings. The story of Abraham’s averted sacrifice of his son Isaac in Genesis 22 (the Akedah) is recounted in Islam with Abraham’s firstborn son Ishmael, born of Hagar (Hājar), named as the divinely requested sacrificial victim. (Some early Muslim sources contend that Isaac was intended, but the Ishmael reading eventually predominated.) The story of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son is recounted in the Qurʾān, surah 37. Muslim hadiths add that Satan (al-Shayṭān) tempts Abraham to ignore God’s command, but Abraham ignores Satan, who in turn tries unsuccessfully to tempt Hagar and Ishmael. All members of the family then stone Satan seven times. After Abraham passes the test of committing to obey the divine command to sacrifice Ishmael, God allows Abraham to sacrifice a ram instead of his son at the last moment. Eid al-Adha commemorates this important moment of divine testing and submission to God.

Practices

In the context of the hajj pilgrimage, Eid al-Adha begins on the third day of the hajj when pilgrims are outside Mecca in the nearby valley of Minā. According to Muslim tradition Mecca is where Hagar and Ishmael went and lived after they were cast out by Sarah (Sārah), and it is there that Abraham and Ishmael built the Kaaba. Practices in Minā on the third day of the hajj begin with a symbolic stoning of the Devil (rajm) performed by throwing seven pebbles at one of three pillars. This is followed by animal sacrifice (qurbānī), shaving or trimming hair, and then returning to Mecca. The hajj continues for two more days.

For Muslims around the world who are not on the hajj pilgrimage, the three or four days of Eid al-Adha are no less significant. A special Eid al-Adha prayer is recited in the morning between the daily prayers offered before sunrise (fajr) and noon (ẓuhr). The special prayer is generally led by an imam in a mosque and followed by the imam’s sermon. Typically it is after the prayer that each family, as they are capable, sacrifices an animal: a sheep, goat, ram, camel, or cow. The meat is divided into three portions: one for the poor, one for relatives and friends, and one for the family’s household. It is also common in modern times to make a donation of a sacrifice to those in need. The holiday is celebrated with merriment, joyful gatherings, and gift exchanges among relatives and friends.