Eidul-Adha – Sunday, 31st May at 2.00 pm at the Dor Kemmyn Peace Field, Penmount, Truro
Qudsia, Cornwall Faith Forum representative from the Muslim Faith Community advises that ‘Eidul Adha which falls on 26 or 27th of May this year is one of the two Eids celebrated by Muslims across the world. Muslim festivals follow the lunar calendar so the date of each Eid changes every year, unlike Christmas but like Easter.
This Eid, Eid-ul-Adha, is the more spiritual Eid, like Easter is compared to Christmas.
Easter celebrates Jesus willingness to sacrifice himself in obedience to God. Eid -ul-Adha celebrates the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son, and therefore his future generations in obedience to what he believed was God’s will. The story is very similar in the Old Testament and in the Holy Quran, except the named sons are different, Ishmael, the eldest is named in the Holy Quran and Isaac is named in the Old Testament. In both cases Abraham was fulfilling a dream which he interpreted as a command from God but at the last moment, at the point where father and son had proved their willingness to obey completely, God told Abraham that he had fulfilled the dream and death of his son was not required. The Holy Quran says, (Ch37 v.104) “And when they both submitted and Abraham had thrown him down on his forehead, We called to him, ‘Oh Abraham, Thou hast indeed fulfilled the dream’. Thus indeed do we reward those who do good.”
Muslims celebrate Eid-ul-Adha with an extra service of prayers in the morning, consisting of two cycles of prayer and a sermon given by an Iman or teacher. Most Muslims families also arrange to have an animal slaughtered as a sacrifice in imitation of Abraham’s sacrifice. The meat is divided and shared among family, neighbours and the needy in their local areas. Today many Muslims in well off countries pay for the slaughter to done overseas and the meat distributed among the hungry elsewhere.’
Please join us for the sharing of this story and the sharing of a vegetarian picnic on 31st May on Penmount Field at 2.00 pm. All enquires to Andrew Yates, Chair, Cornwall Faith Forum [email protected]
