Working in an international school, you sometimes forget where you are really living. First, you don't speak Arabic at your work, which is the place you spend most part of your day. Even if the school has many native people, they speak the school language - English in our case. Then, you live in this "third culture" environment, as anthropologists call it. This mix of cultures: not the local culture, not your culture, not also the official culture - which would be american in our case, just because we use an American curriculum.
Then, you come across a scene like this:
And you remember: oh, yeah, I am living in the Middle East. And Eid al-Adha is coming (it's not because it's MENA that you'll see it everyday. A propos, in Brazil, I could sometimes spot a similar scene near where my parent's house is).
Today is the first day of Eid al-Adha. It means "Feast of Sacrifice",when Muslims celebrate that God provided a sheep to Abraham, so that he could save his son Isaac's life of being sacrificed. You can find the narrative in Genesis, a holy book for both Jews, Christians and Muslims, but the prescription of the Eid al-Adha comes from the Koran.
There is an special prayer for Eid al-Adha and people should dress their best clothes for it. Also, the rams in the photo are for sacrifice. If you have the economic means to buy an animal (it could also be a cow, or a sheep, or a camel, or a goat), you will sacrifice it. One third is for you and your family,one third for your relatives and friends, one third for the poor.
According to an information found in Wikipedia, "in Pakistan alone nearly 10 million animals are slaughtered on Eid days costing over US$ 3 billion". A holy day is also a possibility for a ceasefire when you have a war going on, like in Syria. Unfortunatly, an official truce doesn't mean it will really happen. You can check about Syria in the Al Jazeera's website.
For more information about the Eid al-Adha's traditions and practices, check out the Wikipedia's article.
Then, you come across a scene like this:
And you remember: oh, yeah, I am living in the Middle East. And Eid al-Adha is coming (it's not because it's MENA that you'll see it everyday. A propos, in Brazil, I could sometimes spot a similar scene near where my parent's house is).
Today is the first day of Eid al-Adha. It means "Feast of Sacrifice",when Muslims celebrate that God provided a sheep to Abraham, so that he could save his son Isaac's life of being sacrificed. You can find the narrative in Genesis, a holy book for both Jews, Christians and Muslims, but the prescription of the Eid al-Adha comes from the Koran.
There is an special prayer for Eid al-Adha and people should dress their best clothes for it. Also, the rams in the photo are for sacrifice. If you have the economic means to buy an animal (it could also be a cow, or a sheep, or a camel, or a goat), you will sacrifice it. One third is for you and your family,one third for your relatives and friends, one third for the poor.
According to an information found in Wikipedia, "in Pakistan alone nearly 10 million animals are slaughtered on Eid days costing over US$ 3 billion". A holy day is also a possibility for a ceasefire when you have a war going on, like in Syria. Unfortunatly, an official truce doesn't mean it will really happen. You can check about Syria in the Al Jazeera's website.
For more information about the Eid al-Adha's traditions and practices, check out the Wikipedia's article.
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