* Happy Eid-al-Adha * (Eid-ul-Azha or Eid-e- Ghorban)

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blue">May Allah bless all of us.

Eid-Al-Adha (Eid-Al-Azha or Eid-e- Ghorban) is the festival of sacrifice. The

word "Azha" literally means sheep, goats or cattle offered in sacrifice. All

Moslems celebrate this festival by sacrificing cattle. This is the second

festival introduced by the prophet Mohammed and is connected with the

historical incident when Saint Abrahim (Abraham) decided to sacrifice his son

Ismail (Ishmael) to Allah (God). God put a ram in place of Ismail. About two

thousand seven hundred and ninety three years before the Migration (Hijrat) of

Prophet Mohammed, Saint Abrahim, his wife and his infant son Ismail left Syria

to Mecca. Mecca was a desert with no water and vegetation. Saint Abrahim prays

to God, departs from his family but ensure them of God's protection. Hagar,

Saint Abrahim's wife in compliance's with God's will settled on the land until

all the stored water was used up. She climbed two hills of Safa and Marva seven

times without a stop in hope of finding water for her thirsty infant. However,

it was in vain. When she returns to her child without water, she found her

infant son under a fountain of water rushing under his feet. On viewing the

miracle of God, she thanked God and called this water Zamzam. Since then, this

fountain is known as Zamzam. The tribe of Jurhum was passing by in search of

water when they found the fountain, Abrahim's wife and his son. With the

permission of Hagar, they stayed at the place of "Arafat". The tribe settled

there with approval of Saint Abrahim when he returned to visit his wife and

son. The tribe offered sheep to Saint Abrahim' son, Ismail as a present. As

Ismail grew older, he owned a large number of sheep. He lived with his mother

comfortably and was visited by his father occasionally. One day Saint Abrahim

saw in his dream slaughtering his son so he took his dream as a command of his

Lord. He spoke with his son and asked for his opinion. Saint Ismail responded "

if God pleases, you will find me among the patient ones." *** KAABA *** Saint

Abrahim and Ismail prepared for the

sacrifice. When Saint Abrahim moved the knife against Ismail's neck, Angel

Gabriel replaced Ismail with a sheep. God praised Saint Abrahim for passing the

test. When Saint Abrahim found his son safe, he thanked God and took his son to

Kaaba (in Saudi Arabia). Saint Abrahim's commitment and devotion to God earned

such a great pleasure of God that all Muslims required to visit *Kaaba* a

monument to Allah at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it. Some

commentators have interpreted that

physical conclusion of great sacrifice of Ismail is found in the Martyrdom of

Imam Husain. Love is My Form Truth is My Breath Bliss is My Food -Sathya

Sai Baba -

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