American Bedu

Eid Al Adha
Current mood: calm
Category: Travel and Places

The two primary Muslim holidays which are celebrated in Saudi Arabia (as well as wherever Muslims live) are Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha.  I provided an earlier blog entry describing celebrating Eid Al Fitr and now I’ll share my experience/impressions of Eid Al Adha.  For starters, I’ve included some info from Wikipedia which provides definition and background on Eid Al Adha so that anyone reading this message first understands a bit about the celebration and its background:Eid ul-Adha (Arabic: ??? ?????? ‘Id al-’A??a) 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 (Abraham’s) willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael (Ishmael) for God. Like Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha also begins with a short prayer followed by a sermon (khu?ba).It is celebrated on the 10th day of the month of Dhul Hijja (?? ?????) 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.Eid ul-Adha is three days long starting the day after the pilgrims in hajj (annual pilgrimage to Mecca by Muslims world wide) descend from mount Arafat—–Hopefully the above helps to provide an explanation about Eid Al Adha and how this Eid is associated with the Hajj pilgrimage and known as the “Eid of Sacrifice.”  We spent this Eid in Mecca which getting to and from Mecca during the Hajj time is an experience unto itself.  Almost 3 million people from all around the world descended on Mecca to perform Hajj.  It was an incredible experience to see the people from all over the world and to hear all the different languages being spoken.  Before and after the Hajj the pilgrims will stay in and around Mecca.  As a result, many apartment buildings and private homes will have a flag displayed outside which advises where the pilgrims are from that are being hosted at those locations.  We had Qataris, Iranians and Kuwaitis around us as we stayed at Abdullah’s mom’s home.  During the Hajj itself the pilgrims must stay in fiberglass tents in Mina (which is not too far from the Grand Mosque (or Haram as it is called here).  Many residents of Mecca choose to spend Eid Al Adha outside of Mecca because of the crowds.  Additionally one can rent their apartment or villa easily during the Hajj period for four times the regular monthly rent for a ten day period.Eid Al Adha although very busy because of Hajj is also a quiet Eid spent with the family.  On the actual Eid day most families sacrifice a sheep which is then divided into 3 parts:  1 for the individual; 1 for friends and family; and 1 given to the poor.  After the Eid celebrations (which go for 3 days) were finished, we departed for Riyadh.  The route took us past the tent city of Mina.  We saw hundreds of parked buses for the pilgrims.  I had to smile broadly when I saw one bus with a prominent sign displayed which stated “E Z Hajj USA” which told me this particular bus was transporting American Muslims.  It is also typical for the buses to sport the flag of whichever country nationals are being transported.Because of the amount of activity in Mecca we did not travel around the city this time.  We enjoyed our quality time visiting with family.

12:25 AM - 0 Comments – 0 Kudos – Add Comment – Edit - Remove