Eid-Ul-Azha Today: Festival Of Sacrifice, Sharing, Seeking Forgiveness For Sins

BHOPAL (Madhya Pradesh): Like every festival, Eid-ul- Azha (also known as Bakrid) is also about meeting and greeting and savouring delicacies. But it is also about sacrifice, about sharing and about seeking forgiveness for oneís sins, say Muslim residents in the city.

Eid-ul- Azha, to be celebrated on Monday, commemorates the divine command to Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son as test of his devotion. He readily agrees. But as Ibrahim prepares to carry out the sacrifice, God intervenes and provides a ram to be sacrificed instead.

According to Amer Mehboob, a professor at BSSS, though tradition demands that the faithful sacrifice an animal at their home, many Muslims now do it at slaughterhouses. 'People live in flats and in small homes where there is no courtyard and not enough space to slaughter an animal,' he says.

Qurbani normally follows the offering of namaz. 'It is a festival which makes great demands on women. They have to prepare not only non-veg delicacies like Kaleji Ka Salan, Kebabs, Korma and Biryani but also dishes like Chhole, Paneer preparations and Dahi Vadas for the vegetarian visitors,' the professor says.

According to Dr. Ayesha Ali, Registrar, MP Homoeopathic Council, the fest also means children working in other cities or countries visiting their parents. 'Like the other Eid (Eid-ul-Fitr), homes are decorated and new clothes are worn.'

However, it is also about sacrifice and sharing. 'You are supposed to keep only one-third of the sacrificed animal. The rest should go to friends, neighbours, relatives and the poor,' she says.

According to Ali, the festival is also about sacrificing whatever is bad or wrong in you. 'The faithful are supposed to resolve not to lie, not to hurt others and to keep away from vices,' she says.

A government school teacher Afshan Afsar says that preparations for the festival begin at least 10 days in advance. 'You are supposed to fast for ten days and the Roza on the ninth day is especially important.'

Eid-ul-Azha is also an occasion to seek forgiveness from Allah for the sins and the wrongs one has committed over the past two years. 'It is said that if you seek forgiveness sincerely, the Almighty forgives you,' adds Afsar.

Ibrahim, a B.Tech. student says the festival teaches you to help others, to share whatever you have with others and even how to dispose of waste.