Belated Eid Greetings !

[Shahed]

Belated EID GREETINGS! for all our Muslim members !



For anyone who doesn't know what the festival is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Adha
If you know Muslims it's a good time to wish them as they will appreciate that you are knowledgeable about their religion.

[Beirut]

Peace be unto you all.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Thanks!
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[Shahed]

OOps... sorry didn't see that one before. Figured I was the only one who'd remember (rather arrogantly!). What's the greeting in Turkish ? Happy EID ! Damm I'm sure missing out, would LOVE to get my teeth into a whole roast lamb. MMMmmmmmMMMMMMMmm! Maybe it's not too late, going to visit my local Turkish shop and see if they're feeling generous.

[CountArach]

Merry Eid to all Muslim Orgahs!

[Hepcat]

Happy Eid!

Though I have a question:

One of my friends is currently on a year long exchange in Tunisia and I think that this is what he described. 4 days ago he said it was "the first day of the second Ayeed, we got to kill a sheep." (he then described all about how the sheep had it's throat cut and was then prepared for eating but I'll leave that out in case there are some squeamish members reading this)

Would I be right in assuming that by Ayeed he was just writing Eid how it sounded to a Kiwi ear?

[Mouzafphaerre]

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عيد - ‘īd

An initial characteristic to Semitic languages, then a long i (as in beef) and a d. Transliteration of Arabic into Latin Alphabet is a chaotic mess.

Sacrifices are offered, preferably before noon on the first day, but it may be done until afternoon the fourth day, at which time the festival ends. Regulations on how the animals should be slaughtered exist but few heed them, if any. Unfortunately to most people, especially of lower classes, it's free meat time before anything, and mass slaughters aren't something you'd be wanting to watch.

A portion of the meat can be spared but essentially it's for feeding the poor. Selling it and giving out the money in charity is also possible.

In both of the festivals, a collective prayer (Salā) unique to the occasion is offered in the morning, after the dawn is complete (the sun is up high enough). Celebrations are exchanged and in this second one sacrifices are performed. Other than that, it's up to local customs. Many people, how secular they may (pretend to) be, take the chance for a 3/4 day vacation and escape from the big cities.

Sinan,

Bayramın(ız) mübârek/kutlu olsun; iyi bayramlar; hayırlı bayramlar...


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[Hepcat]

My friend said that him and his host family went to the grandfather's house where they met with the butcher who'd been hired to do the killing because of the special way that it must be done. And they killed the sheep in a "basin-like piece of concrete with a drain hole in the middle".

He didn't post anything about a prayer, the blog entry was 90% describing the sheep being slaughtered and it's stomach being scraped out and how he and his "Tunisian brother" had to clean up the remains ready for the second sheep though he did say it took place at 8am in the morning. So I think they probably did have a prayer then, it's just he forgot to mention it.

So thanks for the info Mouzafphaerre.

[Shahed]

It does'nt have to be a long prayer. IIRC it's enough that they say God is Great or Thank you for this God. Think of the opening scene (<-link) in Last of the Mohicans. The concept is similar. It differs from country to country and place to place. I remember when I was a boy, in Pakistan, they used to say the fatiha (There is no God but God and Mohammed is his messenger) when the animal was slaughtered. The sacrifices on Eid day are made to commemorate Abraham's decision to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, if ordered to do so by God. The sacrifices are done throughout the day but the earlier it is done, the earlier you can cook and also distribute the food. Another concept of this day is to share your wealth with the poor. If you sacrifice the animals early, you can carve them and distribute the food earlier, leaving you to have the rest of the day free. The concept of giving food, money, etc is to share what you have with others who may not be as fortunate as you.

If an animal is to be eaten by a Muslim. It has to be slaughtered and a prayer must be said at the time that the animal is killed, otherwise it cannot be eaten by Muslims. Not all Muslims follow the rules to the letter, but that is the orthodox way.

The prayers at the mosque or "mass" are different. Those are longer.

The animals are (preferably) hung upside down and allowed to bleed dry. The reason for this is that it's considered savage and barbaric to eat the flesh of an animal which still has blood (life) in the veins. Generally speaking a devout Muslim will not eat organs, testicles, brains etc as this is also considered being savage and barbaric, by the orthodox. Obviously in this case, being savage, is considered a bad thing. Not in my book though, "make savage the body but civilise the mind."

Hope that's useful for you.

[Hepcat]

Yes that is, thanks Sinan.

I find it funny that I seem like the only one out of all the friends who are reading his blog that doesn't think he's being indoctrinated into a terrorist organisation. This because that is the prevailing view about Islam here since there seems to be hardly any Muslims in NZ and because Kiwis are generally quite clueless about other cultures (myself included) I think partly because there isn't much taught about the rest of the world in NZ schools. Hardly anyone I know here can actually say anything about Islam that doesn't involve terrorists which is sad in my opinion.

[Boyar Son]

Happy Eid!

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Before the slaughter, a collective prayer (Salā; Nemaz in Farsi) is offered, obligatory for men only. It's different than the regular five times a day one and unique to the two ‘īds. That was what I referred to.

During the slaughter God is praised:

الله اكبر الله اكبر
لا اله اللا الله هوالله اكبر
الله اكبر و لله الحمد

Allah the greatest, Allah the greatest
There is no god but Allah; He, Allah, the greatest
Allah the greatest; praise be to Him

It's also repeated after the daily prayer during the course of the festival.

Well, I better shut up. Ain't no good to talk about such things.
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