Meranaw women cut slices of beef for distribution to relatives and internally displaced persons during the Islamic holiday of Eid’l Adha or Feast of Sacrifice in Baloi, Lanao del Norte on Tuesday, August 21, 2018. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO
BALO-I, Lanao del Norte (MindaNews/21 August) — A group of Muslim scholars recited the Du’a of offering at the small school yard of the Khadijah Mohammad Islamic Academy here as cows were led to the slaughter to mark Eid’l Adha Tuesday.
As other men slit the throats of the sacrificial beasts, the scholars led by Dr. Mehmet Derindag chanted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great).
The place became a hive of activity as people gathered to witness the slaughter of the animals for one of Islam’s most significant holidays.
Derindag of Care Aid and Solidarity Group said three non-government organizations from Turkey, Australia and the Philippines pooled their resources to buy 1,000 cows to feed poor Muslims and evacuees who were affected by the siege in Marawi City last year.
He said 100 cows were slaughtered inside the campus of Khadijah Mohammad Islamic Academy on Tuesday morning.
He said they partnered with the academy headed by Aghakan “Bin Ladin” Sharief for the distribution of the beef.
He explained that during the commemoration of Eid al-Adha, an animal is sacrificed and divided into three parts: one third for the poor and needy; another third for relatives, friends and neighbors; and the remaining third is retained by the family.
“It is more meaningful now especially since those affected by the war in Marawi will receive a portion of the sacrifice,” he said.
Eid’l Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice, honors Abraham’s willingness to slay his son Ishmael at Allah’s order. But when Abraham was about to kill the boy, the angel Gabriel appeared and stopped him, saying he had proved his love for God. A goat was sacrificed in the boy’s stead.
The story is memorialized through the sacrifice of animals.
Falling on the 10th day of the holy month of Dhu al-Hijjah, Eid coincides with the Hajj pilgrimage from Medina to Mecca. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)
