MEMBERS of the Muslim community yesterday gathered at their respective Masjids (places of worship) to begin festivities for Eid-ul-Adha, a three-day celebration considered a “festival of sacrifice”. Muslims across the world observe the holiday with the singular goal of remembering the willingness of Prophet Abraham to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, as an act of obedience to God.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday, Imran Ally, President of the Muslim Youth Organisation (MYO)  and representative of the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), said

Muslims began the day with prayer, followed by a ceremony which dealt with the significance of sacrifice and urged people to work towards creating peaceful communities.
In the afternoon, Muslims joined in distributing beef, and were involved in other charitable acts.
He described this year’s turnout as excellent, compared to previous years.

This year, the organisation sacrificed a total of approximately 65 animals , to share among its members and others, including the needy, at the CIOG.

President of the Peter’s Hall Sunnathul Jama Masjid, Buddy Hassan, described Eid-ul-Adha as one of the most important festivals in the Islamic world.

He explained that it is traditional to make sacrifices of animals, and traditional to give away their carcasses as an act of charity. It is customary for Muslims to give one-third of the meat to the poor, and one-third to friends and family. They keep the remainder.
He added that his Masjid has not been getting the turnout as expected, but nevertheless he said they sacrificed eight bulls.
     
He said that soon after Eid-ul-Adha ends, the physical slaughtering of the animals begins.
Animals used for this purpose are cattle, sheep and goats mainly. One bull is counted as seven shares, and seven persons benefit from the meat of one bull.

The entire Muslim community started praying in the early morning, and followed this through with the sacrifices and then various charitable acts.