Eid Mubarak ! Aid Mubarak ! Kurban Bayram Kutlu Olsun ! Happy Eid Al-Adha ! Bon fête d’Aid el-Kebir!
Today is the second holiday that Muslims will celebrate across the globe ; it marks the day that the Prophet Ibrahim (as) was ordered by God to sacrifice his son Prophet Ismail (as). At the very last moment, God switched Prophet Ismail (as) for a ram, because Prophet Ibrahim (as) was willing to sacrifice his son and give up worldly possitions for Allah’s sake. Prophet Ibrahim (as) was also tempted by the devil before going to the place where he would sacrifice his son. In response to the devil’s temptations to deny God’s plan, Prophet Ibrahim (as) threw pebbles at him.
**(as) means alayhis salam – peace and blessing be upon him
These two acts still exist today when a Muslim performs the obligatory Hajj piligrimage to Mecca. Today being the 10th of the month of Dhul Hijjah or the third day of Hajj, people go to Mina, a small city outside of Mecca and throw pebbles at one of the three stone statues called Jamarat. Here they offer their sacrifice of either a cow, a sheep, a goat or a camel and then the men have their hair shaved. After their sacrifice, people travel to Mecca and perform tawaf, circling around the Kabah seven times then they return to Mecca.
The pilgrimage takes places over a period of five days. I will be sharing the Hajj journey in another post, along with the activities I planned for my kids in order that they may understand more about one of Islam’s five pillars or duties of a Muslim.
At the moment, we don’t have special plans for this year’s Eid, it seemed to creep up on us at an alarming pace. We did however, color these pictures (see below) to hang up around the house.
The above coloring pages can be found at :
Coloriage pour l’Aid el-Kebir pour filles et garcons
Type Eid Al Adha coloring pages in google
If we have time later today, we may decide to do some of these hands on craft ideas.
Eid Al Adha & sheep coloring page
If you have Muslims in your neighborhood or in your family, don’t forget to wish them a Happy Eid !