Eid-ul-Adha – the commemoration of great sacrifice
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DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Muslims across Guyana celebrated Eid-ul-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, today.
Eid-ul-Adha, also known as The Festival of Sacrifice or Bakrid, is celebrated in the last month of the Islamic calendar. This was explained by Deputy Iman of the Queenstown Masjid.
The holiday is the commemoration of the sacrifice of the patriarch Ibrahim who was called upon by Allah to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience; he was stopped by God and given a lamb to sacrifice instead.
Iman Hanif explained that Ibrahim is the greatest example of sacrifice and he is considered the person who submitted completely when called to make a sacrifice. He added that Ibrahim became known as the friend of God.
“It is a form of purification for us. Growth and development come with sacrifice and so in Islam, our aim is the development of the person. The greatest achievement we can achieve is human development, to become morally upright people to become righteous and good,” Iman Hanif explained.
Every year, just before Eid al-Adha, Muslims purchase animals (sheep, cow, camel or goat) to sacrifice. The animal is to be treated, fed and loved until the day of the sacrifice when it is slaughtered. The practice of sacrificing animals commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim to follow God’s command to sacrifice his son.
On the day of Eid ul-Adha, Muslims go out of their homes, gather at a place of worship and interact with other people. “Every year we commemorate this sacrifice as a means of showing our willingness to part with our wealth and to share with other people,” Iman Hanif said.
During these activities, worshippers greet each other with these words: Assalamualaykum — which means, “May peace be upon you!”
When they utter these blessings, they turn their heads to the right and the left. In doing so, they convey the message of peace to all mankind throughout the world. “Islam’s objective is to teach us to become proper human beings,” the Iman said.
From all of us at the Department of Public Information (DPI), we say Eid Mubarak to all.
Tiffny Rhodius
Images: Ackeem Thomas