Eid al-Adha 2024

Eid al-Adha is declared a public holiday as well as a religious holiday in many countries where the majority of the population is Muslim. It is one of the two most important holidays in Islam, along with Eid al-Fitr.

Since the Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar, years are 11-12 days shorter than the solar-based Gregorian calendar. For this reason, Eid al-Adha is celebrated 11-12 days earlier every year. Approximately every 33 years, the holiday corresponds to the same dates.

Sacrifice, as an Islamic religious term, means an animal slaughtered or sacrificed with the intention of getting closer to Allah and gaining His consent. Based on the story of Prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael in the Quran, the concept of sacrifice refers to a much more general devotion, the individual's ability to sacrifice everything for God, submission to God and being grateful to Him. There is a verse on this subject in the Surah Hajj in the Quran.[1][2]

Eid al-Adha in other languages

Eid al-Adha is known by different names in different languages and cultures, with cultural influences. It is a name common all over the world, read as Iyd-el Adha in Arabic. While it is called Eid al-Adha in Turkish, in India and Pakistan the holiday is often called Bakra Eid, which means “Goat Feast”; The animal that is frequently sacrificed in these countries is the goat. Bakra Eid is a name also used in South Africa. Common names used in Bangladesh are Id-ul-Azha and Korbani Id. Similar to its Turkish name, it is called Koç Bayram in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Bulgaria, and Kurban Bajram in Albania. He is known as Babbar Sallah in Nigeria and Ciidwayneey in Somalia and the Somali-speaking parts of Kenya and Ethiopia.