Worshippers celebrate Eid Al Adha as UAE’s leaders visit mosques across the country and welcome well-wishers
▶ Day spent in supplication and contemplation around Makkah
Hundreds of thousands of worshippers across the emirates will celebrate Eid Al Adha today, as Muslims mark one of the most important occasions in Islam before enjoying a long weekend with their families.
The country’s Rulers will today visit mosques across the country to pray alongside the faithful before receiving well-wishers at their majlises.
At the start of celebrations to mark the end of the main Hajj rituals, it is traditional for families and Muslims in general to come together to exchange Eid greetings, starting with performing Eid prayers at the nearest mosque.
This morning, the country’s Rulers will join prayers in their designated emirates. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, will pray at Sheikh Rashid Mosque in Zabeel. He will then receive well-wishers at the Zabeel Grand Majlis.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, will pray at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, before receiving Eid greetings at Al Mushrif Palace.
After performing Eid prayers, it is recommended for financially capable Muslims to sacrifice an animal – a sheep, calf or goat – and distribute the meat to the less fortunate.
While it is recommended that the owner of the sacrifice be present during the slaughtering of the animal, many Muslims assign other people to slaughter on their behalf, especially those who wish to make the sacrifice in other countries, which are considered more in need.
Shayma Zyadneh, 29, an expatriate from Jordan, said she will be going with her husband and three-year-old daughter to the Grand Mosque for Eid prayers.
“We will take sweets with us to give out to the children once the prayers are over,” she said.
She used to do this with her family back home. All the neighbours would meet at the local mosque and then walk behind the imam to the area designated for Eid prayers.
“After we finished praying, we gave small bags of sweets to the children so they will be motivated to go to Eid prayers every time,” she said. “After we finished praying we all had to greet one another, even people we did not know.”
Afterwards she will be going with her husband to sacrifice a sheep.
“I decided to join him because I did this once before in Jordan and I would like to try it here,” she said.
“You choose the sheep, and then you rent a porter to carry it to the slaughter. Then you follow your sheep step by step.”
Once the sheep is slaughtered, its entrails are removed and the carcass examined by a veterinary surgeon.
“He checks if they are good or not, and you decide whether you want to donate the meat or take it home.”
The sheep itself is cut into four big parts which are weighed, then cut into smaller pieces for distribution.
Later in the day, like most Muslims, they will be visiting their relatives.
“And on the second day my husband’s cousins will visit us from Dubai,” she said. “I prepared Eid chocolates, cookies
With their palms facing the sky in supplication and many with tears in their eyes, about 2 million people from around the world gathered yesterday, the main day of Hajj, to start anew, erase past sins and beg God for forgiveness and guidance.
From dawn until dusk, the crowds will gather on Mount Arafat to spend the day in supplication and contemplation. It is here, on this mountain surrounded by desert, where the Prophet Mohammed delivered his final sermon more than 1,400 years ago.
“We hope that Allah will forgive our sins, and we hope to have a new start with our God,” said Khaled Ahmed, a 47-yearold pilgrim from Egypt.
In his sermon, the Prophet called on his followers to repay their debts, beware of Satan, perform the five daily prayers, fast during the month of Ramadan and give to charity. He also called on those with the means to perform Hajj once in a lifetime. He also reminded worshippers of the rights of women and that no ethnic group or race was superior except in piety and good action.
During the Hajj, pilgrims are expected to shed symbols of materialism, although the trip itself can be quite expensive for the majority who make it. Male pilgrims are required to wear seamless, white terrycloth garments for the duration of the Hajj. Women wear loose clothing, cover their hair and forgo make-up and nail polish to achieve a state of humility and spiritual purity.
The large crowds gathered from more than 160 countries around the world, dressed in nearly identical white garments, are meant to symbolise unity among Muslims, humility and equality before God. The rich and poor are to dress the same while performing Hajj.
The Hajj is required of all Muslims once in a lifetime. The physically demanding journey tests pilgrims’ patience as they face long waits and big crowds on their path to spiritual purification and repentance.
Noura Sulieman, a pilgrim from the Philippines, said she had been to the Hajj many times before and was there again to pray for her family.
“I came to Arafat to pray for my family, for my daughter, and my son, and all my family, and all the Philippine Muslims, and all Muslims in all countries,” she said. “God willing, Allah will accept our pilgrimage.”
Muslims believe the rites trace the footsteps of the prophet Ibrahim, his wife Hajira and his son Ismail. The father and son are known as Abraham and Ishmael in the Bible.
The movement of such a large and diverse crowd of people in a short period of time in limited spaces is a logistical challenge for the Saudi government. Authorities have deployed more than 100,000 security forces to secure the Hajj and assist pilgrims. Additional doctors, nurses, ambulances and mobile health centres also serve the areas where the Hajj takes place.
Many begin their pilgrimage by traveling to Madinah, the site of the Prophet Mohammed’s first mosque and where he is buried.
The rites of the Hajj, however, begin in Makkah, the site of Islam’s holiest place of worship. There, pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba and kneel in prayer facing it. The Kaaba represents the metaphorical house of God and the oneness of God in Islam. Observant Muslims, no matter where they may be in the world, face towards the Kaaba during the five daily prayers.
After Makkah, pilgrims spend the day in Mount Arafat before heading to Muzdalifa. There, they will pick up pebbles for a symbolic stoning of the devil and a casting away of sins that takes place in the Mina valley for three days.