Eid’l Adha: A celebration of faith, forgiveness

Muslim women enjoy a day out during the Eid al-Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice holiday at the Quzeon City Memorial Circle. INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON

Muslim women enjoy a day out during the Eid al-Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice holiday at the Quzeon City Memorial Circle.
(INQUIRER PHOTO)

Muslims celebrated their third day of Eid’l Adha yesterday by visiting relatives and friends.

Visiting friends and family is part of the Eid tradition in which they share meals and forgive each other for past sins.

Imam Sarip Alonto, president of Muslim Visayas Da’wah Home Owners Association in Cebu said that visiting friends and relatives is also a way of showing unity.

“It is also the time for us to ask for forgiveness for the mistakes that we have committed to our fellow brothers and sisters,” he said.

“Aside from celebrating Eid’l Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice, it is also important that we forgive others and have patience,” Alonto added.

Even other religion can also pay visit to their fellow brothers and sisters. “Hindi naman importante kung unsa imong relihiyon, ang importante nga maayo ang imong gibuhat, nagkahiusa ta,” Alonto said.

(Religion is not a factor here. What’s important is what you do to others and that we’re united.)

The Eid celebration is also marked with prayers in mosques or by going on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Eid’l Adha or Feast of Sacrifice has been declared a national holiday by virtue of Republic Act No. 9849.

It commemorates what Muslims believe was prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail.

Christians and Jews however, believe that it was Abraham’s other son, Isaac, who was the nearly sacrificed as a test of his faith.

Last Saturday, as part of their tradition, Muslims around the world slaughtered sheep and other livestock like goats and cows and gave the meat to the poor.

In Cebu City, at least 50 cows donated by a non-government organization in Turkey were slaughtered at Cebu City Modern Abattoir.

Each Muslim indigent family were given two kilos of meat. More or less 1,000 families from Metro Cebu were given free meat last Saturday.

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