[Today's Prayer] Islamic 'Hajj' Ends... Eid Al-Adha Holiday Begins

The Hajj, the largest religious event in Islam, concluded on the 6th (local time) in Saudi Arabia's Mecca.

AFP reported that pilgrims ended their three-day pilgrimage with a ritual of throwing seven stones at three concrete walls in the Mina Valley outside Mecca.

More than 1.6 million Muslims from all over the world participated in this year's Hajj. The Saudi government, which claims to be the guardian of the two holy sites of Islam (Mecca and Medina), deployed tens of thousands of military, police, security personnel, and medical personnel, and even mobilized drones to prepare for any emergency.

As the Hajj ended, the largest Islamic holiday, Eid Al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice), began simultaneously in Muslim countries around the world.

Eid al-Adha, which commemorates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son by offering a sheep instead, is observed until the 10th of this month. Public offices, schools, and businesses go on holiday during this period.

During the period of sacrifice, families and friends gather to celebrate the holiday, build friendships, and give charity (zakat) to help the needy.

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However, in the Gaza Strip of Palestine, AP reported that residents were seen performing the Eid al-Adha prayer beside a mosque destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.

Eid al-Adha is considered one of the two major Islamic holidays along with Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan fasting. Eid al-Fitr is often called the “Small Festival,” while Eid al-Adha is referred to as the “Great Festival.”

Source: Yonhap News

Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you. (Deuteronomy 11:16-17)

Lord, we hear that the largest religious event of Islam- the Hajj pilgrimage- came to an end and the largest Islamic holiday, Eid al-Adha, has begun.

May you have mercy on Muslims who gather every year in Mecca with such religious solidarity to commemorate the sacrifice of the sheep that was offered in the place of Abraham’s son, yet do not recognize the lamb of God, Jesus, who came to become our atoning sacrifice.

May the global church strive to share the gospel and stand against the lies of the Islam that deceive Muslims from hearing and seeing the truth, and display the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ on the cross so that the true grace of redemption can be proclaimed all over the world.

As Palestinians in Gaza, while suffering from starvation, gather beside the destroyed mosque to observe Eid-al Adha, Lord, send them workers from the Arab Church and the global church as Good Samaritans.

You have said that what was done to the least of the brothers and sisters was what we have done to you. May we remember this and represent your servanthood to the souls in Gaza and the Islamic world that they may taste the unbreakable love of God.

May the Kingdom of God come upon the entire Islamic world, and may You pour out the rain of the Holy Spirit just as you send rain on parched land, so that the great joy of conceiving new lives may burst forth from the nations!