Festivals in 2021 Celebrating our diversity
The Festival of Sacrifice
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The ritual of korban, which involves the slaughter of livestock, marks the Prophet Ibrahim's exemplary act of sacrifice and obedience to Allah.
BH PHOTO: M.O. SALLEH
July 20: Hari Raya Haji
Hari Raya Haji is a Muslim festival that falls on the 10th day of Zulhijjah (the 12th month in the Islamic calendar).
According to the fifth pillar of Islam, all able-bodied Muslims who can afford to do so are obliged to undertake the haj to Mecca, in which they retrace Prophet Muhammad's last pilgrimage. The festival marks the end of the haj.
It also commemorates the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail in an act of obedience to Allah (God).
His exemplary act of sacrifice and obedience is marked via the ritual of korban, which involves the slaughter of livestock.
The ritual is performed with the animal facing the direction of the Kaaba - a building at the centre of Islam's most important mosque, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia - and a prayer.
The animal is then cleaned and its meat carved up for distribution among family and the needy.
