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Festivals | "Hari Raya Haji" Other Festivals
‘Hari Raya Haji’ (also called Eid-ul-Adhar in other countries) lies in a lower-profile compared to ‘Hari Raya Puasa’. It is celebrated for three days starting from the tenth day of ‘Zulhijjah’ and marks the successful conclusion of the annual pilgrimage to Mekkah, one of the five pillars of Islam. This day is set aside to commemorate the readiness of Prophet ‘Ibrahim’ to sacrifice his beloved son, ’Isma’ail’, in order to obey God’s commands. Hence, it is also known as the ‘Festival of Sacrifice’. The story reminds all Muslims of how God provides and cares for those who do his will

Origins
Way back in time, there lived a great prophet ‘Ibrahim’, who knew and believed in the one and only God, ‘Allah’. ‘Ibrahim’ had a son, ‘Isma’ail’, who was a quiet and helpful boy and loved Allah. One day, ‘Ibrahim’ was commanded in his dream, to sacrifice his son, ‘Isma’ail’ as an offering to Allah. With great sadness ‘Ibrahim’ went and told his son about his dream. Without a moment of hesitation, ‘Isma’ail’ agreed, as that was Allah’s wish.

So ‘Isma’ail’ lay down and ‘Ibrahim’, taking a sharp knife in his hand, was prepared to do what Allah commanded. He was just about to sacrifice his son when he received Allah’s command telling him not to harm the child. Then Allah replaced him with an animal for the sacrifice. Thereafter ‘Ibrahim’ and ‘Isma’ail’ realized that the dream had been a test to see how much they really loved and trusted Allah.