LONDON: Muslims around the world marked the Eid Al-Adha holiday on Tuesday, gathering at mosques or in vast open sites to celebrate one of the two most important festivals of the Islamic calendar.
Commemorating the willingness of Ibrahim, or Abraham, to sacrifice his son on God’s command, Muslims mark the holiday by slaughtering animals such as sheep and goats. The meat is shared among family and friends and also donated to the poor.
Palestinians visited the compound known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif in Jerusalem’s Old City, following morning prayers marking the first day of the Eid Al-Adha celebration.
In Syria, President Bashar Assad attended prayers at a mosque in Damascus.
The festival was also celebrated across Africa and Asia. In the Kenyan capital Nairobi thousands gathered in a field for mass prayers, the faithful also met in the Somali capital Mogadishu, and prayed at Almaty’s Central Mosque in Kazakhstan.
More than 226,000 of Muslims gathered at mosques in the Russian capital to celebrate Eid Al-Adha. The largest in Europe, Moscow Cathedral Mosque has become the epicenter for celebrations.
The festival comes as the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia draws to a close.
Meanwhile, almost 2.4 million Muslims took part in the symbolic stoning of the devil on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, the last major ritual of the Hajj pilgrimage that heralds the start of the Eid Al-Adha feast.
Muslims on the annual Hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, made their way across the Mina valley of the western Saudi Arabian Makkah province, many carrying pebbles in plastic bottles.
Pilgrims clad in white threw seven stones each at a pillar symbolising satan, shouting “Allahu akbar” (“God is greatest“) under the watchful eyes of security forces.
Large fans sprayed water over the crowd as temperatures climbed to 44 degrees Celsius.
“Thank God it hasn’t been too crowded this year. There hasn’t been a big rush,” said Mohammed Osman, 27, who regularly attends Hajj.
Mina was the site of a 2015 stampede which saw more than 2,300 pilgrims crushed or suffocated to death. Authorities have since reinforced safety and security measures.
“We are under God’s protection,” said May Khalifa, a 37-year-old Egyptian Muslim living in Riyadh.
“Despite the exhaustion, I’m enjoying my first Hajj,” she said, lifting her small bag of stones.
Muslims around the world celebrate Eid Al-Adha
Muslims around the world celebrate Eid Al-Adha
South Korea calls for resuming dialogue with North
- President Lee Jae Myung has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North since taking office in June
- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul
SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on Sunday for dialogue with North Korea to resume, after Pyongyang last week shunned the prospect of diplomacy with its neighbor.
Since taking office in June, a dovish Lee has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North, which reaffirmed its anti-Seoul approach during a party meeting last week.
“As my administration has repeatedly made clear, we respect the North’s system and will neither engage in any type of hostile acts, nor pursue any form of unification by absorption,” Lee said in a speech marking the anniversary of a historical campaign against Japan’s colonial rule.
“We will also continue our efforts to resume dialogue with the North,” he said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, describing its overtures as “clumsy, deceptive farce and a poor work.”
Speaking at the party congress in Pyongyang, Kim said North Korea has “absolutely no business dealing with South Korea, its most hostile entity, and will permanently exclude South Korea from the category of compatriots.”
But he also said the North could “get along well” with the United States if Washington acknowledges its nuclear status.
Speculation has mounted over whether US President Donald Trump will seek a meeting with Kim during planned travels to China.
Last year, Trump said he was “100 percent” open to a meeting.
Previous Trump-Kim summits during the US president’s first term fell apart after the pair failed to agree over sanctions relief — and what nuclear concessions North Korea might make in return.
