Rabat – Saudi Arabia will celebrate Eid Al-Adha this year on Wednesday, June 28, according to an announcement from the country’s Supreme Court.
The first day of Dhul-Hijjah, the last month in the Islamic Hijri calendar, will be on June 19, the Saudi Press Agency reported, meaning that Eid Al-Adha will be on the 28th.
Eid Al-Adha is one of the holiest and most significant occasions on the Islamic Hijri calendar, with Muslims over the world celebrating by slaughtering cattle as a sacrifice for Allah.
Every year, Muslims wait for news from their local ministries or moon sighting committees to know when the feast will be, as the Islamic calendar is determined by the moon cycle.
In addition to the feast, Muslims take the opportunity to visit and reconnect with their families as well as to buy gifts and exchange food with each other.
Much like Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan each year, this occasion is marked with a prayer and sermon in the early morning at local mosques, after which worshippers can go ahead and slaughter their sacrifice cattle, usually a sheep.
The tradition comes from a trial that God put Abraham through, as told in the Quran, when he commanded the prophet to sacrifice his son Ismael. As he was about to follow through the test, God instead bestowed a lamb from heaven to be slaughtered in Ismael’s place.
