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More than a billion Muslims around the world are participating in celebrations of The Festival of the Sacrifice over the next couple of days. Thousands gathered in downtown Salt Lake.
There are 25,000 to 30,000 Muslims living along the Wasatch Front, and this holiday brings some of them together. The festival, or Eid-ul-Adha, reminds them of a sacred obligation.
Some 5,000 Utah Muslims gathered for prayers on this holy day, their Imam asking them to sacrifice for those in need. One of their speakers called for justice for those murdered in Mumbai and talked of representing the true Islam. "We must be proud to be Muslim and we must be proud to be American," he said.
"As you know, there's a lot of refugees in this community. So, there's a lot of needy people we can provide that food to, and they're very happy to receive that," said Noor Ul-Hasan, of the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake.
The celebration ties directly to the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the Hajj. It symbolizes unity between humanity and God, or Allah.
Muslims are required to take part in that pilgrimage to Mecca, where they believe Abraham, Ishmael and the prophet Mohammed were, once in a lifetime. It is financially a sacrifice to travel there for those who live outside Saudi Arabia, and the worship is rigorous. As the faithful walk counterclockwise seven times around the Kaaba, the House of God, so it's physically a sacrifice too.
The holiday commemorates an event in the life of Abraham, found in both Islam's holy book, The Qur'an, and the Old Testament of the Bible. It's sacred to both Jews and Christians. Muslims believe it was his son, Ishmael, not Isaac, that God asked him to sacrifice.
The women preferred not to be photographed in prayer. They worship together, separated from the men by a curtain. They will return to their homes and cook traditional lamb dinners.
The dinner ties in with the story of Abraham. In both the Koran and the Bible, God stops Abraham from sacrificing his son, and Abraham found a ram nearby and offered that to God or Allah. It doesn't have to be lamb; it can be a goat, or cow or even, in some countries, a camel.
E-mail: cmikita@ksl.com
