SBW jazzes up Eid-ul-Adha festivities

Rugby star Sonny Bill Williams brightened the Eid-ul-Adha celebrations for many this week when he showed up with his family at the celebrations.

The star was swamped by young rugby fans as he obliged by signing autographs and sharing selfies at the photo booth before taking part in other activities.

The celebrations attracted thousands of participants from the Muslim community living in New Zealand.

And the message that came out of the celebrations: The true meaning of Eid-ul-Adha does not lie in the sacrifice of the animal but sacrificing something that is close to him or her.

Hazrat Ibrahim decided to sacrifice his son Ismail to fulfil the command of God and instead ran his knife on a goat. To commemorate and celebrate this unwavering faith of Ibrahim, Eid-ul-Adha is observed across the globe by praying and sacrificing an animal.

Kiwi Muslims observed the second most celebrated festival of the community on Tuesday, September 13, as prayers were held in different mosques around the country. Auckland Eid Day, a not-for-profit organisation hosted the prayer session and a small fete for families at Eden Park in Mt Eden.

The Eidgah witnessed a footfall of around 3,000 men, women and children for the prayer and another 4,000 during the day for the carnival. The venue offered cuisines from Arab, India, Turkey, Malaysia, Syria and a few other Muslim countries alongside henna stall, face painting for children, scarves and imitation jewellery for women.

Eid-ul-Adha is the occasion when one of the largest pilgrimages Hajj is held in the holy city of Mecca. Approximately 1.2 million people from across the globe attend the annual pilgrimage that extends to five days including Eid day.

Hajj and its rituals: Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and a Muslim who is financially and physically capable has to perform Hajj at least once in his/her lifetime. There are different phases of the Hajj and as a part of the ritual, the pilgrims wear Ihram (white piece of cloth), climb the mountains Safa and Marwah, throw pebbles on three stone blocks called Jamarat believed to be places where the devil tried to manipulate prophet Abraham, do tawaf or circle anti-clockwise around the Kaaba seven times situated within Masjid-al-Haram, shave their head (men only) and slaughter an animal.

The pilgrims returning from Hajj carry dates and Zamzam water back to their country to distribute among family and friends.

Slaughtering animals for this occasion at the backyard of the house (a practice in India and other Asian countries) is not allowed in New Zealand as per law. Patrons who wish to sacrifice, pay a specified amount to a group, Masjid, etc., and they arrange for sacrificing the animal at farms or at slaughter houses.

As per Islamic law, meat from the sacrificed animal must be divided into three equal parts, one for the extended family and friends, one for self-consumption, and one for the less fortunate and poor.