Eid Al Adha Greeting for Students and Host Families from Imam Arafat
From AFSWiki
Friends-
One of the two most important holidays in the Muslim calendar, Eid al Adha, is coming upon us. Eid al Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice will take place this Sunday, November 6th.
Imam Arafat, the founder of Civilization Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (CECF), with whom we work closely on the YES program, created an Eid greeting for students and host families- please find it attached below. Because Eid al Adha is such an important holiday in the countries our YES students come from, it is also a time when students might show some homesickness-
For more information on Eid Al Adha, please read the below description by the Huffington Post:
“The festival commemorates Abraham's willingness to follow God's command to sacrifice his son Ishmael and Ishmael's consent to being sacrificed. Today, it is marked by slaughtering animals to feed the poor. Coming at the end of the Hajj, a journey of dedication and purification, Eid al-Adha is understood as an opportunity for second chances. According to the Quran, when Ishmael (known as Isma'el in Arabic) was 13, his father, Abraham (Ibrahim), began having inconceivable dreams in which God instructed him to sacrifice Ishmael (Quran Surah 37). Unbelievable as the dreams were, Abraham decided to follow Allah's instructions -- but not before asking Ishmael if he would agree to this. The son did not hesitate, showing ultimate submission to God's will by telling his father to go through with the sacrifice. Then, at the very moment that Abraham raised the knife, Allah tells him to stop -- they had passed the test -- and to replace Ishmael with a sacrificial ram. In the Quran, Abraham is rewarded for his faith with a second son, Isaac. Muslims observe and prepare for Eid al-Adha in a number of ways. Before the festival, the faithful acquire new clothing and visit with family and friends. At dawn on the day of Eid, Muslims recite the traditional declaration of faith, the Takbir, followed by the pre-sunrise communal prayer, Salat al-Eid, which is also said on Eid al-Fitr. Worshipers then greet friends with the traditional Arabic salutation of Eid Mubarak (“Have a blessed Eid”) and exchange gifts. In a symbolic act, Muslims who can afford it slaughter a cow, goat, sheep or camel, keeping a portion to feed themselves and distributing the rest to friends, family and the needy. Those who can't afford it, buy meat from a Halal butcher to distribute. Giving out this meat, in addition to the morning prayers, is considered an essential component of Eid al-Adha. “
Eid Mubarak to you! The YES team-
