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my faith
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ISLAM
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Like all other religions, Islam has a number of special
occasions of celebration. These occasions are
observed with devotion to seek the pleasure of Allah.
There is no concept of a festival only for pleasure. The
festivals are occasions of thanksgiving, joy and happi-
ness. The two major occasions in Islam in each year
are
‘Id al-Fitr and ‘Id al-Adha.
‘Id al-Fitr
is observed at the end of the month of
Ramadan
. On this day, after a month of fasting,
Muslims express their joy and happiness by offering a
congregational prayer. They express their gratitude to
Almighty Allah for enabling them to observe fasting
which is a very useful rigorous training programme. The
day is generally observed as a holiday in Muslim coun-
tries. Special dishes are prepared and it is customary to
visit friends and relatives and to give presents to chil-
dren. Muslims generally wear their best clothes on this
day.
‘Id al-Adha
begins on the 10th of
Dhul-Hijjah
and con-
tinues until the 12th day of the month. It is celebrated to
commemorate Prophet Ibrahim’s (Abraham) [a] readi-
ness to sacrifice his son Isma’il (Ishmael) [a] on the
command of Allah. Allah accepted Ibrahim’s devotion
and obedience and asked him to sacrifice a lamb
instead. This occasion of great importance comes
every year during the days of
Hajj
(Pilgrimage to
Makkah) and is observed by offering congregational
prayer, as in
‘Id al-Fitr.
After the prayer, Muslims who
can afford it sacrifice animals like goats, sheep, cows or
camels to seek Allah’s pleasure. The meat of the sacri-
ficed animal is eaten and shared among relatives,
neighbours and the poor.
This sacrifice expresses the inner feeling of a Muslim
that, if need be, he will sacrifice his most loved posses-
sion for Allah. This is the lesson of the occasion. We
must remember here that what Allah wants is not the
animal nor its meat or blood, rather He wants our devo-
tion and submission to His command.
