Islam has two major religious ceremonies. The first occurs
after the end of the month of Ramadan, the Islamic month in which Muslims
(believers in Islam) fast daily from dawn to sunset as part of an effort
towards self-purification and improvement. This holiday is known as Eid al-Fitr
(Breaking the Fast).
The second major Islamic celebration takes place at the time
of Hajj, or the annual Hajj of Makkah. This week-long event takes place two
months and ten days after the end of Ramadan, during the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan, and its culmination is a holiday known as Eid al-Adha. The Hajj
consists of several ceremonies, symbolizing the basic concepts of the Islamic
religion, and commemorating the memory of the Prophet Ibrahim and his family.
More than two million Muslims perform Hajj every year, and more than a billion
Muslims around the world celebrate Eid in conjunction with the Hajj. We offers
Cheapest
hajj packages non- shifting.
To teach about important Islamic holidays, teachers can copy
the Student Information pages to this package and distribute it to their
students. After providing 15-20 minutes to read the pages, teachers can use the
questions presented to guide the discussion and draw responses from the
students. Some suggested activities for students are also included in this
package.
ABRAHAM
Abraham is a figure respected by Muslims, Jews and
Christians alike as a straight person who lived more than four thousand years
ago. His story can be found in the Bible as well as the Koran (the Islamic
Bible). Abraham is regarded as monotheism, or "faith in one God",
which seeks to establish a personal relationship with his Creator. He left his
native city of Orr in Mesopotamia after he expressed his opposition to the
practices of his shirk and eventually settled in Egypt with his family. Later,
one of his wives, Hajar, and their infant son, Ismail, took him to a desolate
valley on the Arabian Peninsula and left them there, confident in God's promise
to take care of them.
Hajar, who was interested in breastfeeding her little child,
started looking for the environment around food and water. According to the
Qur'an, in response to the prayers of Hajar, the spring flowed miraculously on
the feet of Ismail to tell their thirst. Hajar climbing nearby hills looking
for food and looking for convoys in sight. Eventually, some passing traders
stopped in the valley and asked Hagar's permission to feed their beauty. In
time, traders decided to settle in the small valley, and eventually the
settlement grew to the city of Mecca. Ibrahim returned from time to time to
visit him. When Ismail was thirteen years old, he and Isma'il built the Kaaba,
an empty cube building, as a place dedicated to worshiping one God. In the end,
Mecca became an important commercial center by the time of the Prophet
Muhammad, five hundred and fifty years later.
The Hajj
In commemoration of the trials of Ibrahim and his family in
Mecca, which included Abraham's desire to sacrifice his son in response to
God's command, the Muslims will travel to the holy city at least once in their
lives. Hajj is one of the "five pillars" of Islam, and thus an
essential part of Muslim faith and practice. Muslims from all over the world,
including the United States, travel to Mecca (Saudi Arabia in modern times).
Before arriving in the holy city, Muslims enter the state of Ikram, known as
Ihram, by removing their earthly clothes, wearing modest clothes of irregular
white plaques for men, and simple white dresses and covers for women. White
clothing is a symbol of equality between humans and unity before God, because
all pilgrims wear similar clothing. Money and status are no longer a factor for
pilgrims - the equality of every person in the eyes of God is of paramount
importance.
Upon reaching Makkah, the pilgrims perform the first tawaaf,
a circular procession clockwise around the Kaaba. At all times, they mention
"to your illustrious Father of God", which means "I am here at
your service, O God, behold, I am!" The Taraf is meant to awaken the
awareness of every Muslim that God is the center of their reality and origin in
every sense of life, and that each person's individual identity stems from
being part of the community of Muslim believers, known as the nation. Pilgrims
are also rushing, seven times faster than the small hills called Safa and
Marwa, where they rewrite the biblical and Koranic accounts of Hajar's
desperate search for drinking water and food.
Then, on the first official day of Hajj (8th of Dhul
Hijjah), two million pilgrims travel a few miles to the Mina Plain and the camp
there. From Mina, the pilgrims travel the next morning to the Arafat Plain
where they spend a full day of prayer and devotion. That evening, the pilgrims
move and camp in Muzdalifah, a location between Mina and Arafat. Muslims stay
overnight and offer different prayers there.
Then the pilgrims return to Mina at ten, and throw seven
stones on a stone pillar representing the devil. This symbolizes Abraham
throwing stones at Satan when he tried to discourage Abraham from sacrificing
his son. The pilgrims then sacrifice themselves and re-represent the story of
Abraham, who sacrificed, instead of his son, sheep that God had offered as an
alternative. Meat is distributed from sheep slaughtered for consumption to
family, friends, the poor and the needy in society. After the sacrifice, the
pilgrims return to Mecca to end the official rituals of Hajj by performing
tawaaf and seeking.
Muslims believe that the rituals of Hajj were designed by
God and taught through the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims believe that since Adam's
time, there were thousands of prophets, including well-known figures such as
Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and David, and that Muhammad was the last prophet
of God.
The Hajj was designed to develop awareness of God and a
sense of spiritual elevation. It is also believed to be an opportunity for
forgiveness of sins accumulated throughout life. The Prophet Muhammad had said
that the person who performs the pilgrimage properly "will return as a
newborn child [free from all sins]." The pilgrimage also allows Muslims
from all over the world, from different colors, languages, races and origins,
to gather together in the spirit of brotherhood and universal brotherhood to
worship one God together.
Eid al - Adha
Although only Mecca pilgrims can participate in the Hajj in
full, all other Muslims in the world join them by celebrating Eid al-Adha or
the festival of sacrifice. On the 10th of Dhu al-Hijjah, Muslims all over the
world wear their most beautiful clothes and attend a special prayer in the
morning. This is followed by a short sermon, and then everyone stands in
hugging and greeting each other. The traditional Eid greeting is "Eid
Mubarak", which means "holiday blessings". After that, people
visit each other's homes and take part in festive meals with special dishes,
drinks and desserts. Children receive gifts and sweets on this festive
occasion. In addition, like pilgrims in Mecca, those Muslims who can do so
offer pets, usually sheep, as a symbol of Abraham's sacrifice. Meat is
distributed for consumption to family, friends, the poor and the needy.
Eid al-Adha is a major religious event in Muslim life.
Typically, communities celebrate this occasion over several days.
