What is Eid al-Adha, and when is it? What you should know about the Muslim Sacrifice Feast

 Eid al-Adha, which honours the Prophet Abraham's fidelity and obedience to Allah and signals the end of the yearly Holy Pilgrimage of Hajj, is one of the most significant days of the year for the over 4 million Muslims living in the United States and the many more who practise Islam worldwide.

The Hajj is a set of rites that commemorate the Prophet Muhammad's last journey through the desert in 632 AD, when he followed in the footsteps of Ibrahim and Ismail. A practising Muslim should perform the Hajj, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, in order to get closer to A

Any Muslim who is financially and physically capable of doing so must visit the most important location in Islam, the Ka'bah, in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, at least once in their lifetime. One of the biggest religious gatherings in the world is the Hajj. Eid al-Adha occurs at the conclusion of it.

Families will gather to pray, exchange gifts, donate to charities, and feast on this special day.

When and how will the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha be honoured in the US in 2022?

What is the origin of the Eid al-Adha holiday?

According to the Holy Qur'an, Allah gave the Prophet Ibrahim the order to sacrifice his eldest son, Ismail, in the shape of an angel. When Iblis (Satan) tried to persuade Ibrahim not to comply, Ibrahim was prepared to do it out of loyalty to Allah, even fending off Iblis with his own strength.

Allah saw Ibrahim's intent to sacrifice his most prized possession and sent the Angel Gabriel to intervene and prevent him from doing so by supplying an animal to be offered in Ismail's stead. The Jewish Torah and the Christian Old Testament both contain versions of this event, except in the Jewish version, God commands Abraham to offer his younger son, Isaac, as a sacrifice.

Eid al-Adha, which lasts three to four days, begins for pilgrims in Mecca on the third day of the Hajj after they have gathered at Arafat and prayed to Allah to pardon their sins. It is typically celebrated on one day in the United States.

Why is it called Eid al-Adha?

"Eid" is Arabic for "festival" or "feast." According to Omid Safi, a professor of Islamic studies at Duke University, "Al-Adha" alludes to sacrifice, notably the "one in which Abraham was asked - as a test - to sacrifice his son, only to have God intervene and substitute a ram (or lamb) instead."

Nusrat Choudhury: Confirmed by the Senate as the nation's first female Muslim federal judge