LordAnubis Posted October 15, 2013 Posted October 15, 2013 Eid Mubarak to all that are celebrating Eid Ul Adha today, and of course best of wishes to all that are not as well. Today is Eid Ul Adha (literally Festival of sacrifice), as opposed to the Eid a few months ago that is called Eid al Fitr (Festival of breaking fast, as it marks the end of the Month of Ramadhan). This day for muslims is basically a day of sacrificing either sheep, ox, goat, camel or chicken, if you have the means and ability to do so. Mostly sacrifices are made in the name of deceased relatives or newly born children etc. It is also a day of asking forgivness of those you have wronged and mending ties with those whom you have had falling out with. Some people also use this time to donate food to charity and those in need etc. Today is an important day in the muslim calendar for two reasons. The first one is that it is a story that is close to the Christian faith as well. Todays celebration is called the festival of sacrifice as it refers to the story of Abraham and his son Ismael (in the Koran, and Isaac in the Bible - Old Testament). The story goes that prophet Abraham was asked by god to sacrifice his son to test his faith to Allah. When Abraham told his son what had to be done, the son walked with his father to the place the sacrifice was to be made. On the journey, Satan showed himself three times to Abraham to try and sway his faith. Abraham threw stones at Satan each time (remember this, more on this later). When they reached the place of sacrifice, Ismael asked his father to cover his (Ismaels) eyes, and bind his hands and feet to complete the task. Abraham then closed his own eyes and completed the sacrifice as he was instructed. When Abraham opened his eyes, before him was a sheep and spilt blood of a sheep, while Ismael was standing behind him safely. Allah rewarded their faith by not harming Ismael, and allowing a sheep to be sacrificed instead. The bible version (keep in mind i am no master of the bible, so please correct me if i speak in error) reports that at the last minute God instructed Abraham to sacrifice a sheep instead, so in that version Abraham didnt actually proceed to apparently sacrifice his son. The second reason this day is significant is it marks the end of the pilgrimage of Hajj. The Hajj pilgrimage is a requirement for all muslims to complete once in their lifetime when they are physically able and have the means to do so. One of the parts of the pilgrimage is to throw stones at the the three locations Abraham saw Satan, so that's kinda how some peices of the puzzle fit in. Picture of Masjid al Haram (The Grand Mosque) which is the mosque built around the Qaabah, that black square building. All muslims pray towards that when they perform their prayers. It's not "face east" as most people think, it's face towards the Qaaba (which ever direction it is relative to your position). Anyway, a huge mosque and inshallah (if Allah wills it) i will be going to perform my Pilgrimmage in 2015, so brushing up on my arabic skills etc. I wonder if i can smoke cigars there?!?! Interesting thing to note, is if you look closely check out how many cranes are around it! They are doing some massive expansion of it apparently, don't know what they are doing though. So anyway, hope everyone enjoys their day regardless of whether you are celebrating or not, and forgive me for being a smart ass on the forums. I'll try and get a cigar in today but will see how i go, if not, will burn one up on the weekend!
khamy Posted October 15, 2013 Posted October 15, 2013 Mate that was a great summary that provide a bit of insight into a religion i don't know to much about and yet i do (in the bible version of the story at least). Have an enjoyable day celebrating my friend. I'll be enjoying a PLPC later today since its so beautifully sunny day in Sydney today.
LordAnubis Posted October 15, 2013 Author Posted October 15, 2013 The photo was not mine obviosuly... google is my friend.
Roanoke Posted October 15, 2013 Posted October 15, 2013 Eid Mubarak! Great post, thanks. I found this on smoking in Saudi Arabia. It mentions Mecca specifically as having cafés affected by a loosely enforced smoking ban.
frenchkiwi Posted October 18, 2013 Posted October 18, 2013 The first one is that it is a story that is close to the Christian faith as well. Todays celebration is called the festival of sacrifice as it refers to the story of Abraham and his son Ismael (in the Koran, and Isaac in the Bible - Old Testament). The story goes that prophet Abraham was asked by god to sacrifice his son to test his faith to Allah. When Abraham told his son what had to be done, the son walked with his father to the place the sacrifice was to be made. On the journey, Satan showed himself three times to Abraham to try and sway his faith. Abraham threw stones at Satan each time (remember this, more on this later). When they reached the place of sacrifice, Ismael asked his father to cover his (Ismaels) eyes, and bind his hands and feet to complete the task. Abraham then closed his own eyes and completed the sacrifice as he was instructed. When Abraham opened his eyes, before him was a sheep and spilt blood of a sheep, while Ismael was standing behind him safely. Allah rewarded their faith by not harming Ismael, and allowing a sheep to be sacrificed instead. The bible version (keep in mind i am no master of the bible, so please correct me if i speak in error) reports that at the last minute God instructed Abraham to sacrifice a sheep instead, so in that version Abraham didnt actually proceed to apparently sacrifice his son. I wonder if i can smoke cigars there?!?! Just don't go smoking cigars during ramadan days. You'll get cigarette addicts crowding round to get a passive free lunch I will always remember eid because living in algiers a loosely tied, and obviously very reluctant, sheep escaped the feast by jumping off the 10 or so story building next to our place and ending up with its feet hanging out of our bedroom roof. Just like the biblical version of the story, a replacement sacrifice fell out of the blue at the last minute. ha ha. my neighbour who actually saw it in full flight was very impressed. hope you enjoyed the 'id.
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