SINGAPORE - Muslims celebrated Hari Raya Haji on Friday (Sept 1) with morning prayers and the sacrificial slaughter of livestock known as the korban.
Earlier this week, Singapore received 3,700 sheep from Australia for the korban rituals held at 25 mosques. The price for each Australian sheep was set at $485, $5 less than last year.
Last year, Singapore received about 1,867 Australian sheep and 1,583 Irish lambs. These were transported to 26 mosques islandwide and two Malay/Muslim organisations - the Muhammadiyah Association and Jamiyah - for the ritual.
Hari Raya Haji is also known as Eid al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice. The festival marks the end of the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca.
Some 850 congregants gathered at Masjid Petempatan Melayu in Sembawang, one of the korban centres this year. It is one of the last "kampung" mosques in Singapore that was built in the 1960s and served as the religious and social meeting point for Muslims living in nearby villages.
A total of 150 sheep were sacrificed at the mosque. The meat was then distributed to congregants and 40 people with disabilities.
In his Hari Raya Haji sermon, the Mufti of Singapore, Mohamed Fatris Bakaram, stressed the need for everyone to work together and improve the community's quality of life.
Moderation should be embraced, he added. Those who disrespect the law or rules of living in a society might cause "destruction and long-term negative effects", he said.
