Each family has its own Eid-al-Adha traditions

Muslim spiritual celebration a time to rejoice, says Quratulain Chaudhari.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — for Muslims. Eid-al-Adha, was celebrated on Aug. 21 this year. Eidal-Adha is one of two Eids in the Islamic year. Unlike Eid-al-Fitr, which marks the end of the month of fasting, Eid-al-Adha is a more sacred and spiritual celebration, as it marks the end of the holy pilgrimage to Mecca, called Hajj.

Celebrating Eid in Windsor is not quite the same as celebrating it in a Muslim majority country. The rules are very different and, in fact, many families do not participate in all of the events of Eid due to being unable to take time off work or other obligations.

For instance, in Pakistan the preparations for Eid begin well in advance when the livestock to be sacrificed is purchased weeks before Eid day. Families take very good care of the animal from the moment it enters their home to the moment it is sacrificed on the day of Eid. People even dress it up with little ornaments and the entire family partakes in feeding, comforting and caring for the livestock. Sacrificing livestock is a very important part of Eid-alAdha. Religiously, it is traced back to the story of Prophet Ibrahim, who dreamt that God asked him to sacrifice his son. Ibrahim obeyed God’s command, but at the last moment God replaced his son with a ram to be sacrificed instead. It is a story of great importance to Muslims around the world.

In Windsor, we are unable to participate in such activities. However, we are able to pay a butcher to perform the sacrifice and allow us to distribute the meat to our family, friends and those in need. This is called a Qurbani and it is mandatory for every able family to begin their Eid with the sacrifice of an animal. On Eid day, the entire community comes together to pray the mandatory Eid prayer. This is my favourite part because everyone gets the opportunity to meet people in the community that they may not necessarily see year-round. This is especially important for newer generations so that they can continue to build a sense of community around commonalities like religion and culture. After the Eid prayer, many people get back to their normal lives, but other families, like mine, take a day off work and enjoy delicious homecooked meals such as halwa puri, karahi gosht and, my all-time favourite, nihari, a mouth-watering slow-cooked meat stew served with tandoori naan. Sometimes when we have the ability to take the day off, after our morning meal the entire family takes a nap. We have called this the obligatory Eid nap and we especially look forward to it while waiting around for the Eid prayer earlier in the morning. Every family has different ways of celebrating Eid in Windsor and Eid celebrated abroad looks very different, but the important thing is to get together for Islam and to participate in the activities that are outlined for each practicing Muslim. For my family, this is a time to rejoice, dress up in our traditional clothing, meet people in our community and eat all the delicious traditional food. Quratulain Chaudhari lives in Windsor and is of Pakistani heritage. She writes a blog called Truffle & Error.