Eid ul Juha (Bakra Eid)
The feast of Bakr-Id is an occasion to give and to sacrifice. It is a day to thank the Almighty for one's good fortune and to share it with the less fortunate brethren.
Id-ul-Zuha, or Id-ul-Azha, as it is called in Arabic, translates as 'the feast of sacrifice'. Popularly, Bakr-Id is marked by the slaughter of animals as sacrificial offerings, after which the meat is distributed among the needy and deprived.
Bakra-Id is celebrated from the tenth to the twelfth day in the Islamic month of Dhul Hijjah. Every year, while pilgrims to the Mount of Mina make animal sacrifices as part of the pilgrimage rituals.
A goat (also called bakri, hence Bakra-Id), sheep, camel or any other four-legged animal is slaughtered during one of the three days of the festival, and the meat is distributed by the authorized person. The sacrificial offering is divided in three parts - one for the self, another for friends, and the third for the needy.
Festivities mark the first day, when people wear new clothes, offer prayers, and greet friends and relatives. It is said that the celebrations are carried on over three days to ensure that the entire Muslim community partakes in the noble of act of giving and sharing.
Legend:
Legend has it that Allah commanded Hazrat Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail on Mount Mina near Mecca . Ibrahim, unable to see himself kill his son, blindfolded himself and carried out the pronouncement of God. When he took off the blindfold, a lamb lay slaughtered on the altar and his son stood there unharmed.
Ibrahim understood then that this willingness on Ibrahim's part to give up his only son was what God sought, and not the sacrifice of human flesh and blood.
Like Ibrahim, who willingly surrenders his beloved son to God, a true follower of Islam is expected to sacrifice something that is dear to him.
This spirit of sacrifice is what truly underlines the spirit of Bakr-Id. Incidentally, the day also coincides with the day when the holy Quran was declared complete.
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