Eid-ul-Adha has begun around the world with warm messages from leaders and celebrations throughout the umma.
In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai inspected a guard of honour and took part in a prayer session on the advent of Eid-ul-Adha.
Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel A. Al-Jubeir hosted Eid Al-Adha prayer at the embassy this morning to mark the end of the annual Hajj. After the prayer, the ambassador hosted a breakfast for embassy staff and members of the Saudi community.
David Cameron, PM of the UK announced:
On this festival of Eid ul Adha I send my warmest wishes to all Muslim communities throughout the United Kngdom.
Eid ul Adha, celebrated all over the world, is one of the most holy festivals in Islam and celebrates the culmination of Hajj.
As families and friends come together in celebration. I want to recognise the immense contribution that British Muslims, over many generations, have made to our country.
And to wish everyone a very happy and peaceful Eid.
Eid Mubarak.
Eid-ul-Adha commemorates the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead.
On the day of Eid-ul-Adha the meat from a sacrificial lamb is divided into three parts to be distributed to others. The family retains one third of the share, another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbours, and the other third is given to the poor & needy.
Eid-ul-Adha is timed to coincide with the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca. On the day, pilgrims perform the symbolic “stoning of the devil” at Mina, a ritual marked in the past by deadly stampedes before the Saudi authorities expanded the site to accommodate the huge numbers who flock to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj.