JAKARTA: Muslims in Asia on Monday celebrated Eid Al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, with food and prayers for people in Gaza suffering from the Israel-Hamas war.
One of the biggest Islamic holidays, the occasion commemorates Prophet Ibrahim’s test of faith through slaughtering livestock and animals and distributing the meat to the poor. It’s a joyous occasion for which food is a hallmark where devout Muslims buy and slaughter animals and share two-thirds of the meat with the poor and it’s a revered observance that coincides with the final rites of the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Much of Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh, observed Eid Al-Adha on Monday, while Muslims in other parts of the globe, including Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen celebrated the holiday on Sunday.
On Monday, worshippers shoulder-to-shoulder joined in communal prayers in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. Preachers in their sermons called on people to pray for Muslims in Gaza and Rafah.
“Our prayers and thoughts are with our brother and sisters who are now suffering in Palestine,” worshipper Adi Prasetya said after praying at a field in southern Jakarta. “There are many opportunities for us now to channel our help through charities.”
“May Allah give strength to those ravaged by war... may those who are divided can live in peace again,” said another devotee, Berlina Yustiza.
Although Indonesia has more Muslims than any other country in the world, its traditions to mark Eid Al-Adha have been influenced by other religions.
Residents in Yogyakarta, an ancient center of Javanese culture and the seat of royal dynasties going back centuries, believe that if they manage to catch the crops arranged in the form of a cone-shaped pile called “gunungan” that is paraded from the royal palace to the Kauman Grand Mosque, it can bring them good luck. They scrambled to grab various food offerings, made of fruit, vegetables and traditional snacks.
A day before the sacrifice festival, people in East Java’s Pasuruan city expressed their gratitude and respect for the sacrificial animals by dressing them as beautiful as a bride. The sacrificial cow is wrapped in a seven-fold garland, a shroud, turban and prayer mat and paraded in a tradition called “manten sapi,” or bride cow, before being handed to the sacrificial committee.
Villagers in Demak, a town in Central Java province, celebrated the holiday with a procession of livestock called “apitan” as a form of gratitude for the food and harvest. They bring foods in bamboo containers to the town’s square that they eat together after praying. Locals believe the procession will provide prosperity and that disaster would come if it was abandoned.
Eid Al-Adha commemorates the Qur’anic tale of Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice Ismail as an act of obedience to God. Before he could carry out the sacrifice, God provided a ram as an offering. In the Christian and Jewish telling, Abraham is ordered to kill another son, Isaac.
In Malaysia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim joined thousands of congregants, including foreign tourists, and offered morning prayers at a mosque near his office in Putrajaya, south of the capital Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile at a wholesale market in Selayang, just outside the capital, Muslim workers there knelt on mats placed on a large piece of white cloth laid outside the market to perform their prayers.
In his message, Anwar said the opportunity to go on the Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah is one of God’s great gifts and should make one more ascetic and simpler.
“I invite Muslims to live the message of simplicity that is preached in Hajj, to always be humble and not be mesmerized by the attraction of temporary worldly riches,” Anwar said, “Let’s not deviate from this goal. The world should be a bridge to the eternal land.”
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Muslims in Asia celebrate Eid Al-Adha with sacrifice festival and traditional feast
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Muslims in Asia celebrate Eid Al-Adha with sacrifice festival and traditional feast
- On Monday, worshippers shoulder-to-shoulder joined in communal prayers in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta
- Preachers in their sermons called on people to pray for Muslims in Gaza and Rafah
Louvre thieves escaped with 30 seconds to spare, probe reveals
- Probe found only one of two security cameras was working near the site where the intruders broke in on the morning of Sunday October 19
PARIS: The thieves who stole crown jewels from the Louvre in October evaded police with just 30 seconds to spare due to avoidable security failures at the Paris museum, a damning investigation revealed on Wednesday.
The probe, ordered by the culture ministry after the embarrassing daylight heist, revealed that only one of two security cameras was working near the site where the intruders broke in on the morning of Sunday October 19.
Agents in the security control room did not have enough screens to follow the images in real-time, while a lack of coordination meant police were initially sent to the wrong place once the alarm was raised, the report unveiled at the French Senate’s Culture Commission stated.
“It highlights an overall failure of the museum, as well as its supervisory authority, to address security issues,” the head of the commission, Laurent Lafon, said at the start of a hearing.
One of the most startling revelations was that the robbers left only 30 seconds before police and private security guards arrived on the scene.
“Give or take 30 seconds, the Securitas (private security) guards or the police officers in a car could have prevented the thieves from escaping,” the head of the investigation, Noel Corbin, told senators.
He said that measures such as a modern CCTV system, more resistant glass in the door cut open with angle grinders, or better internal coordination could have prevented the loss of the jewels — worth an estimated $102 million — which have still not been found.
Major security vulnerabilities were highlighted in several studies seen by management of the Louvre over the last decade, including a 2019 audit by experts at the jewelry company Van Cleef & Arpels.
Their findings stressed that the riverside balcony targeted by the thieves was a weak point and could be easily reached with an extendable ladder — exactly what transpired in the heist.
‘Stunned’
Corbin confirmed that under-fire Louvre boss Laurence des Cars had not been aware of the audit which was ordered by her predecessor, Jean-Luc Martinez.
“The recommendations were not acted on and they would have enabled us to avoid this robbery,” Corbin said, adding that there had been a lack of coordination between the two government-appointed administrators.
Police believe they have arrested all four intruders, who escaped on powerful motorbikes, having carried out the heist in the Apollo Gallery in around 10 minutes in total, according to the investigation.
The revelations on Wednesday are likely to pile more pressure des Cars, the first woman in the role who was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in 2021.
Questions have swirled since the break-in over whether it was avoidable and why a national treasure that is the world’s most-visited museum appeared to be so poorly protected.
France’s lower house of parliament is carrying out its own inquiry, while des Cars and Martinez are set to be grilled by senators next week.
Last month, France’s state auditor said security upgrades had been carried out at a “woefully inadequate pace” and the museum had prioritized “high-profile and attractive operations” instead of protecting itself.
Senior police officer Guy Tubiana, a security adviser at the culture ministry who took part in the investigation, told senators he was “stunned” by what he had discovered at the museum.
“There was a succession of malfunctions that led to catastrophe but I never would have thought the Louvre could have so many malfunctions,” he said.
Staff at the Louvre at set to go on strike on Monday to demand management act against what they see as understaffing and overcrowding at the museum, which welcomed 8.7 million people last year.
At the weekend, the museum revealed that a water leak had damaged 300 to 400 journals, books and documents in the Egyptian department in late November.
The probe, ordered by the culture ministry after the embarrassing daylight heist, revealed that only one of two security cameras was working near the site where the intruders broke in on the morning of Sunday October 19.
Agents in the security control room did not have enough screens to follow the images in real-time, while a lack of coordination meant police were initially sent to the wrong place once the alarm was raised, the report unveiled at the French Senate’s Culture Commission stated.
“It highlights an overall failure of the museum, as well as its supervisory authority, to address security issues,” the head of the commission, Laurent Lafon, said at the start of a hearing.
One of the most startling revelations was that the robbers left only 30 seconds before police and private security guards arrived on the scene.
“Give or take 30 seconds, the Securitas (private security) guards or the police officers in a car could have prevented the thieves from escaping,” the head of the investigation, Noel Corbin, told senators.
He said that measures such as a modern CCTV system, more resistant glass in the door cut open with angle grinders, or better internal coordination could have prevented the loss of the jewels — worth an estimated $102 million — which have still not been found.
Major security vulnerabilities were highlighted in several studies seen by management of the Louvre over the last decade, including a 2019 audit by experts at the jewelry company Van Cleef & Arpels.
Their findings stressed that the riverside balcony targeted by the thieves was a weak point and could be easily reached with an extendable ladder — exactly what transpired in the heist.
‘Stunned’
Corbin confirmed that under-fire Louvre boss Laurence des Cars had not been aware of the audit which was ordered by her predecessor, Jean-Luc Martinez.
“The recommendations were not acted on and they would have enabled us to avoid this robbery,” Corbin said, adding that there had been a lack of coordination between the two government-appointed administrators.
Police believe they have arrested all four intruders, who escaped on powerful motorbikes, having carried out the heist in the Apollo Gallery in around 10 minutes in total, according to the investigation.
The revelations on Wednesday are likely to pile more pressure des Cars, the first woman in the role who was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in 2021.
Questions have swirled since the break-in over whether it was avoidable and why a national treasure that is the world’s most-visited museum appeared to be so poorly protected.
France’s lower house of parliament is carrying out its own inquiry, while des Cars and Martinez are set to be grilled by senators next week.
Last month, France’s state auditor said security upgrades had been carried out at a “woefully inadequate pace” and the museum had prioritized “high-profile and attractive operations” instead of protecting itself.
Senior police officer Guy Tubiana, a security adviser at the culture ministry who took part in the investigation, told senators he was “stunned” by what he had discovered at the museum.
“There was a succession of malfunctions that led to catastrophe but I never would have thought the Louvre could have so many malfunctions,” he said.
Staff at the Louvre at set to go on strike on Monday to demand management act against what they see as understaffing and overcrowding at the museum, which welcomed 8.7 million people last year.
At the weekend, the museum revealed that a water leak had damaged 300 to 400 journals, books and documents in the Egyptian department in late November.
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