Id Ul Adha (Hadji Festival)
Id Ul Adha or Hadji Festival (the Festival of Sacrifice) is a public and bank holiday in Sri Lanka. Muslims all over the world celebrate this holy day. It falls approximately 70 days after Eid ul-Fitr (end of Ramadan) and is celebrated in honor of the prophet Abraham willingness to sacrifice his son as a proof of his loyalty to God.
Hadji Festival
According to Muslims, approximately four thousand years ago, the valley of Mecca (in what is now Saudi Arabia) was a dry, rocky and uninhabited place. According to Islam, the Prophet Abraham (‘Ibraheem in Arabic) was instructed to bring his wife Sarah, handmaiden/wife Hagar and Ishmael, his only child at the time, to Arabia from the land of Canaan (in Palestine) by God’s command.
Abraham was ready to return to Canaan. Although Abraham had left a large quantity of food and water with Hagar and Ishmael, the supplies quickly ran out, and within a few days the two began to feel the pangs of hunger and dehydration. According to Islamic tradition, Hagar ran up and down between two hills called Al-Safa and Al-Marwah seven times, in her desperate quest for water. Finally, she collapsed beside her baby Ishmael and prayed to God for deliverance. Miraculously, a spring of water gushed forth from the earth at the feet of baby Ishmael. With this secure water supply, known as the Zamzam Well, they were not only able to provide for their own needs, but were also able to trade water with passing nomads for food and supplies. Years later, Abraham was instructed by God to return from Palestine to check on his family; when he arrived, he was amazed to see them doing well running a profitable trade.
Abraham was then told by God to build a place of worship dedicated to Him adjacent to Hagar’s well. Abraham and Ishmael constructed a stone and mortar structure —known as the Kaaba— which was to be the gathering place for all who wished to strengthen their faith in God. After many centuries, Mecca became a thriving desert city and a major center for trade, thanks to its reliable water source, the well of Zamzam.
Abraham had shown that his love for his Lord superseded all others: that he would lay down his own life or the lives of those dearest to him in submission to God’s command. Muslims commemorate this ultimate act of sacrifice every year during Id Ul Adha.
Celebrations usually include presenting an animal (usually a cow or a sheep) sacrifice, and the meat is shared with family, friends and those in needs. The festival also marks the end of the Pilgrimage or Hajj to Mecca. During the Hajj, male pilgrims are required to dress only in a garment consisting of two sheets of white unhemmed cloth, with the top draped over the torso and the bottom secured by a white sash; plus a pair of sandals.
