Eid al-Adha

This year the 10 Dzulhijjah 1434 Hijriyah falls on 15 October 2013. It is the Eid al-Adha Day or Eid e Qurban or also known as the Feast of the Sacriface. It is the one of the religious holiday celebrated each year by moslem all over the world. 

The Eid al-Adha is a festival to honour the willingness of prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail to comply with God's command and Ismail acceptance to be sacrificed. Then Allah change the Ismail with a lamb to sacrifice. That is why during the Eid al-Adha, moslem people will slaughter animal that meet certain age and quality standards to be a qurban. The animal can be lamb, goat, cow, or camel.The qurban will be divided into three parts. One third for the family, another one third for relatives, friends and neighbors; and the remaining one third is given for charity to the poor and needy.

Another tradition that is done in Eid al-Adha is the Eid prayer. The Eid prayer is done in the morning before we start the qurban activities. It is a sunnah prayer consist of two rekaat followed by a khutbah. According to Fiqh, men is compulsory to attend the Eid prayer. Women are also encouraged to attend although it is not compulsory. Residents (not traveller or musafir) and those who are in good health have to attend the Eid prayer. 

This year is not my first time to celebrate the Eid al-Adha outside my hometown. I used to celebrate it in Korea in 2009 and now in 2013 I celebrate it in France. But what make this day so special here in France is because I get new moslem friends thanks to the Eid. It began accidentally one day before the Eid day, when my friend Nahin and I were looking for a mosque to attend the Eid prayer. Then we saw a girl wearing a hijab and we gather our confidence to speak in French with this girl simply to ask if she knew any mosque near Nancy. After some awkward minutes, we started to know each other, exchanged our phone numbers and made an appointment for going to the mosque together for the Eid prayer the next day. Her name is Rim and she is Maroccain. She is so kind and warm to us, the only problem is that she did not speak English therefore our communication is a bit stammered. Rim introduced us to her friend whose name is Ouleya. She is also Maroccain and studies Master of Civil Engineering in my university. And that's pretty much how my friendship with these two Marrocain girls started and I am so grateful to have more and more moslem friends here in Nancy.

Me, Ouleya, and Rim

Inside the Prayer Hall

The women shaff

Nahin, me, and Chandra

Me and Ouleya