Eid Al Adha

I wrote this blogpost on the first Eid for me in U.A.E. ,three years have rolled by and on the eve of another Eid iam reposting the same .......

Eid Al Adha ( Bakrid ) is a festival celebrated by Muslims all over the world and in commemoration of Hazrat Ibraheems ( Alay his- salaam ) willingness to sacrifice his beloved son Hazrat Ishmaeel ( Alay his-salaam )when he was tested to do so .
Inthe end God made him sacrifice a lamb instead .

This is also called the bigger Eid as compared to Eid al fitr ( Ramzan )which is a day shorter .

Usually this is seventy days after the Ramadan month .

On this day believers sacrifice a lamb or sheep to symbolise the event,

it actually depicts willingness to submit and accept divine commandments .

In Morocco,Algeria ,Tunisia ,Libya and Egypt it is called Eid-El-Kibr,

in Nigeria it is called Babbar Sallah,

in India and Pakistan it is called Baqra-Eid ,

Indonesians call it as Idhul Adha,

in Turkey Kurban Baiyrami or sacrifice feast ,

Keralites call it as velliya Perunaal.

On this day muslims will dress in thier best finery and go to the mosque for prayers ,those who can afford sacrifice thier best domestic animals ,

sacrificed animals are called as Udhiya in Arabic .

The meat is to be distributed to the poor and needy and feasted with family and friends .

courtesy Wikepedia .

To me in the UAE for the first time this festival was a time to learn more about it and the beliefs behind it ,

The holidays stretched for more than a week and the climate was ideal for long walk

I did just that beating the evening chill with a jerkin,

Al Ain is meant for walking with its neat paved pavements ,grassy knolls filled with colourful flowers and sprinklers spraying thier wetness in deference .

I could walk to the end of the north pole like this !

The junctions were festooned with colourful lights and the city had a festive air with cars 'zooming about to reach the malls for shopping juggernauts . The shops were laden with sweets and gifts .

People are generally polite and even a stranger would greet you with a salaam,

Most drivers are courteous and give preference to a pedestrian when crossing the roads

( I mean smaller ones ,the bigger ones ,one has to use the pedestrian crossings if one doesnt want to turn into fine dust )

A young Arab was driving his big car when I tried to cross one bylane ,he stopped it and smiled at me waving me to do so ,I mouthed a silent thanks and did just that ,

Incidents like this does warm your heart ,people are the same everywhere some are concerned while others are rash .

In the emergency room of my hospital as I went to see a patient on my on call day one of the ER clerks who did the orientation in the beggining in my batch came rushing and embraced me in a warm hug ,

" Dr Hari so nice to see you ,how are you ? Id Mubarak ."he said ,

same day i got a phone call from a patients son "dr let me wish you all the best on this day we want to thank you for looking after father ."

These are small incidents in ones life ,( like in anybody elses ) that gives back the message that after all human beings wherever and whatever are all the same ,

we have to be ,being from the same creator .

....................Eid Mubarak.........