Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha? You might think what’s the difference, but there is a huge one. Eid-ul-Adha  is celebrated on the 10th day of the Islamic month of Dhu-Al Hijjah while Eid-ul-Fitr is what I wrote about a few months back. According to the Muslim Education Center and Chicago Hilal Committee, Eid-ul-Adha is on Sunday, Nov. 6 this year!

Eid-ul-Adha celebrates the event when the Prophet Abraham willingly accepted to sacrifice his son, Ishmael. Ishmael, however, was saved by God, or as I believe Allah, after being replaced by an animal. Because of this, all Muslims who can afford it,  sacrifice an animal on the day of Eid-ul-Adha to remember the obedience of Abraham to Allah. We also use this as an example for ourselves to be obedient to Allah and strive hard to gain his favor.

Before the holiday comes, many Muslims make the holy pilgrimage, Hajj, to Makkah where they perform a series of different rituals. Hajj is a required pillar for people who can afford it. (I can’t wait till I can go!)  Since some people, including myself, could not go on the pilgrimage, we  try and fast for the nine days before Eid to also gain some good deeds. This part of Eid-ul-Adha reminds me greatly of Ramadan. I try my best to fast because it brings back the great feeling of Ramadan. I feel like this time is another checkpoint for Muslims to see if we are still carrying on our good deeds from Ramadan.

Last Eid, I wrote about the hectic load of homework and pressure of school we would face. This time, however, Eid-ul-Adha is on a Sunday! And on top of that our school board has actually given us a day off on Monday for Eid-ul-Adha. That means two days to celebrate! Eid-ul-Adha is like a chocolate sundae and the day off is like a cherry on top of that!  I guess our patience has finally paid off!

My schedule for Eid-ul-Adha is similar to my schedule for Eid-ul-Fitr. The day before Eid-ul-Adha my friends and family members come over. We all sit together and apply henna on our hands. Afterwards, while we sit around, to make the sure the color of our henna is dark enough, we have some family bonding time. After everyone returns to their homes, my family and I start to prepare ourselves for the next day. We iron our clothes and set our alarms to wake up extra early the next day.

The next morning we wake up early to go to Eid-prayer. After we pray, there is an Islamic speech or khuthbah. The topics of the speech vary from year to year but we always learn something new from them. There is hugging and kissing, but afterwards we all return home to a huge breakfast. We stuff ourselves and the day proceeds with meeting family and friends.  At night we usually go out to eat.

We are very fortunate to be able to spend this holiday with our loved ones. For some Muslims this will be just another day of hunger and starvation. Amongst the day of celebration please remember these people who are less fortunate and donate some zakat or sadaqah for them. Zakat and sadaqah is a form of donation for the needy and what better time to pay it then right now?

Eid-ul-Adha is a very special holiday and the school board has made it even better for us. I would like to thank the school board on behalf of the entire Muslim students at Niles West. You have done something that has touched every Muslims heart!

Happy Eid-ul-Adha, or if you prefer, Eid Mubarak, Niles West!