Eid Mubarak means "blessed Eid", so it's like saying "Merry Christmas!" in the US. This week/weekend is the celebration of Eid al-Adha for the Muslim faith. In short, Eid al-Adha is the holiday to honor the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his young first-born son Ismael as an act of submission to God and his son's acceptance of the sacrifice, before God intervened to provide Abraham with a ram to sacrifice instead. Christians believe it was Isaac who God asked up for sacrifice. You can check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Adha for more info (I know Wikipedia isn't 100% reliable for all facts, but knowing how many Muslims are out there worldwide, I find it hard to believe they would let an entry like this contain false information).
So, each year, Eid al-Adha, along with other Muslim holidays, is called based on the Islamic lunar calendar, which makes holidays occur about 10-12 days earlier than the year previous. Each year, businesses can estimate what days will be granted off, but the actual holiday is called within the week of it actually occurring based on the lunar cycle and Muslim leader decision.
In the Christian religion, this would be like Easter and Christmas never occurring at the same time each year, and us all waiting for the exact holiday day to be called about a week before. Some years, Christmas could occur in June and Easter in December. Can you just imagine Easter in December? It would make no sense and finding eggs would be near impossible for snow covered parts of the country. And Christmas in June? It would make no sense to bring a tree inside and cover it with lights when it stays so light outside at night. Christmassy foods and drinks wouldn't be appealing in the summer either. You realize how much our holidays are based on the seasons in the US. Anyways, I am digressing the subject at hand and chuckling to myself as I imagine our holidays being in different months. Focus!
This year, Eid al-Adha was called for this weekend and part of next week, so we ended up getting the entire week off. It's like Christmas break, in October! October 25th-Nov. 2nd is no work! Lots of expats use these bonus breaks to get away and travel. They have more money than us. We, on the other hand, are relaxing and being a bit lazy, with a few chores sprinkled in. So far, we've gone to the school pool, the school park, gotten ice cream and a balloon at the mall, and played with friends. Tomorrow, we are heading down to Fins beach for an overnight camping trip which is always fun. Colin and I plan to do a hike later in the week while Aberly stays home with Eunice. Wednesday is Halloween, so we will join the other school families for trick-or-treating around the on-campus houses. It has been a good vacation so far and looks like it will stay that way.
Happy Eid!
So, each year, Eid al-Adha, along with other Muslim holidays, is called based on the Islamic lunar calendar, which makes holidays occur about 10-12 days earlier than the year previous. Each year, businesses can estimate what days will be granted off, but the actual holiday is called within the week of it actually occurring based on the lunar cycle and Muslim leader decision.
In the Christian religion, this would be like Easter and Christmas never occurring at the same time each year, and us all waiting for the exact holiday day to be called about a week before. Some years, Christmas could occur in June and Easter in December. Can you just imagine Easter in December? It would make no sense and finding eggs would be near impossible for snow covered parts of the country. And Christmas in June? It would make no sense to bring a tree inside and cover it with lights when it stays so light outside at night. Christmassy foods and drinks wouldn't be appealing in the summer either. You realize how much our holidays are based on the seasons in the US. Anyways, I am digressing the subject at hand and chuckling to myself as I imagine our holidays being in different months. Focus!
This year, Eid al-Adha was called for this weekend and part of next week, so we ended up getting the entire week off. It's like Christmas break, in October! October 25th-Nov. 2nd is no work! Lots of expats use these bonus breaks to get away and travel. They have more money than us. We, on the other hand, are relaxing and being a bit lazy, with a few chores sprinkled in. So far, we've gone to the school pool, the school park, gotten ice cream and a balloon at the mall, and played with friends. Tomorrow, we are heading down to Fins beach for an overnight camping trip which is always fun. Colin and I plan to do a hike later in the week while Aberly stays home with Eunice. Wednesday is Halloween, so we will join the other school families for trick-or-treating around the on-campus houses. It has been a good vacation so far and looks like it will stay that way.
Happy Eid!
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