Selamat hari raya to all people of Muslim faith. Today is December 20th 2007, and the big day (hari raya) is Idul Adha, the day that honors Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son for Allah. Fortunately Allah was merciful and allowed Ibrahim to substitute a goat for his son. On this day in Indonesia, many Muslims celebrate by eating sate kambing (goat satay).
According to Wikipedia:
‘Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى ‘Īd al-’Aḍḥā) is a religious festival celebrated by Muslims and Druze worldwide as a commemoration of Ibrahim’s (Abraham’s) willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael for Allah. It is one of two Eid festivals, whose basis comes from the Quran[1], that Muslims celebrate (Muslims in Iran celebrate a third, non-denominational eid ). Like Eid el-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha begins with a short prayer followed by a sermon (khuṭba). It is also called the bigger Eid because it is considered better than Eid el-Fitr[citation needed].
Eid al-Adha is the 10th day of the month of Dhul Hijja (ذو الحجة) of the lunar Islamic calendar. The festivities sometimes last for two to three days more depending on the country. It is the day after the pilgrims in Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia by Muslims worldwide, descend from Mount Arafat. It happens to be approximately 70 days after the end of the month of Ramadan.’
The date of Idul Adha, along with all the other Muslim celebrations including Ramadan changes, due to the fact the Islamic calendar is 11 days shorter.
