Prayer room for the Muslim community in AdDU. Photo by Ian Derf Salvaña

The Muslim community in the Ateneo de Davao University commemorated Eid’l Adha last Sept. 24.

Students, teachers and staff members who wished to worship during the actual religious feast were free to skip class or work up to 10 am, as mandated by the memorandum issued by the Office of the President.

Eid’l Adha or Feast of Sacrifice is an Islamic festival to celebrate the willingness of prophet Ibrahim to follow Allah’s command to sacrifice his son Ishmael.

According to Al Qalam Institute and Madaris Volunteer Program Project Coordinator Harris Tanjili, Eid’l Adha recalls the time when Allah tested Prophet Ibrahim. He also said it is a commemoration of the Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.

“For us Muslims, the Hajj did not start during Prophet Muhammad but during the time of Prophet Ibrahim,” he said.

Tanjili narrated that during the feast of sacrifice, they usually wake up early and after the subuh or obligatory morning prayer, they prepare for the prayer for the celebration.

“The main difference from the Eid’l Adha prayer from the normal congregational prayer which we do every Friday is that the prayer is done first than the sermon,” he added.

Tanjili said those who performed the Hajj, on the other hand, would pray in Masjid al-Haram. It is said to be the place chosen by Ibrahim to perform pilgrimage as duty to the Almighty.

During the feast of sacrifice, the Muslim communities do the Qurban. It is a word used for the sacrifice of a livestock animal during Eid’l Adha.

“Just like Prophet Ibrahim who had his sheep offered, we also sacrifice anything that resembles the sheep including a cow, a goat, or a camel. We do not slaughter these animals for no reason or just to be labeled as someone wealthy. We distribute it among the poor in the community,” Tanjili said in Filipino.

Moreover, to clear the confusion between the two major Islamic celebrations, Tanjili explained that Eid’l Fitr is the celebration after fasting while Eid’l Adha is the commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim and the Hajj.

In addition, Nuraini Dwi Hardifarida, a fourth year student from the Humanities and Letters Cluster, shared her own Eid’l Adha experience.

“We woke up early in the morning to go to the Mosque to pray. The prayer started at 7 am,” she told Atenews in an interview.

“Then the people in my father’s office slaughtered some cows and we went back to our home, gathered and ate together,” she said in Filipino.

Meanwhile, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III declared Sept. 25 an Eid’l Adha holiday.