JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Muslims in Asia on Monday celebrated Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, with food and prayers for people in Gaza suffering from the Israel-Hamas war.
One of the biggest Islamic holidays, the occasion commemorates Prophet Ibrahim’s test of faith through the slaughter of cattle and animals and distribution of the meat to the poor. It is a joyous occasion where food is a hallmark, where devout Muslims buy and slaughter animals and share two-thirds of the meat with the poor, and it is a revered observance that coincides with the final rites of the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Much of Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh, celebrated Eid al-Adha on Monday, while Muslims in other parts of the globe, including Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen celebrated the holiday on Sunday.
On Monday, worshipers shoulder to shoulder joined in communal prayers in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. Preachers in their sermons called on people to pray for Muslims in Gaza and Rafah.
“Our prayers and thoughts are with our brothers and sisters who are now suffering in Palestine,” said worshiper Adi Prasetya after praying in a field in south Jakarta. “There are many opportunities for us to channel our help through charities.”
“May Allah give strength to those devastated by war… may those who are divided live in peace again,” said another devotee, Berlina Yustiza.
Although Indonesia has more Muslims than any other country in the world, its traditions to mark Eid al-Adha have been influenced by other religions.
Residents of Yogyakarta, an ancient center of Javanese culture and seat of royal dynasties dating back centuries, believe that if they can gather crops arranged in the form of a cone-shaped pile called a “gunungan” that parades from the royal palace to the Grand Mosque Kauman, it can bring them good luck. They scrambled to grab diverse food offerings, made up of fruits, vegetables and traditional snacks.
The day before the sacrificial festival, people in the city of Pasuruan in East Java expressed their gratitude and respect for the sacrificed animals by dressing them as beautiful as a bride. The sacrificial cow is wrapped in a sevenfold garland, a shroud, turban and prayer rug and paraded in a tradition called “manten sapi”, or bride cow, before being handed over to the sacrificial committee.
Villagers in Demak, a town in Central Java province, celebrated the holiday with a cattle procession called “apitan” as a form of gratitude for the food and harvest. They bring food in bamboo containers to the town square and eat together after praying. Local residents believe that the procession will bring prosperity and that disaster would follow if it were abandoned.
Eid al-Adha commemorates the Quranic story of Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice Ismail as an act of obedience to God. Before he could perform the sacrifice, God provided a ram as an offering. In the Christian and Jewish narrative, Abraham is ordered to kill another son, Isaac.
In Malaysia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim joined thousands of worshipers, including foreign tourists, and offered morning prayers at a mosque near his office in Putrajaya, south of the capital Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile, at a wholesale market in Selayang, on the outskirts of the capital, Muslim workers knelt on mats placed on a large piece of white cloth placed outside the market to perform their prayers.
In his message, Anwar said that the opportunity to make the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca is one of God’s great gifts and should make one more ascetic and simpler.
“I invite Muslims to live the message of simplicity that is preached in the Hajj, to always be humble and not to be mesmerized by the lure of temporary worldly riches,” said Anwar: “Let us not deviate from this goal. The world should be a bridge to the eternal land.”
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Associated Press writer Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.
