September 1st, 2017
here comes the Eid al-Adha!!!
According to related regulations, there will be a 5-day holidays for Chinese Muslim friends during the 2017 Eid al-Adha. First of all, HACOS wishes all of you Eid al-Adha Mubarak!
Ways in which Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha may vary slightly among regions, but rites and events are generally similar.
Prepare For the Festival
Muslims clean up their houses and yards before Eid al-Adha. All stuffs are stacked in a tiny manner. They prepare festive dishes such as Sanzi (fried dough twist) and Huahua.
Children all dress up, dancing joyfully and enjoying themselves. Purifying bath, incense burning ... all Muslims are looking forward to such a feast day.
Community Worship
Muslims see not only Eid al-Fitr, but also Eid al-Adha as a celebrated festival. They gather and worship together at sunrise. During the ceremony, Muslims are in confession of their guilt, then the Imam shall preach to them.
They chant the Quran in memory of the ancient prophets and sages. And everyone should fast for half a day until the end of the worship.
Livestock Slaughter
Every year during this time, thousands upon thousands of sheep are hauled into cities all across Xinjiang and sold as sacrifices. Sheep can cost anywhere between 25-50RMB per kilogram, which is a pretty wide range.
Sheep brought in from inland China are considered the cheapest and worst while sheep from Kashgar or Altay regions are the most expensive.
Every family should purchase their own sheep that they can either slaughter themselves or have slaughtered by a local butcher. Despite the dirty mess, kids and adults alike get dressed up for the occassion.
Strange thing is, the sheep seem to understand what is going on. Seldom do you see a sheep calmly accepting its fate. Rather, it’s quite humorous to watch the new owners attempt to pull, shove and drag the sheep back home.
Once the sheep arrive back at the house, the process of slaughtering begins. It’s a bloody mess but is surprisingly quite an efficient process. Very little of the sheep is discarded.
It begins by cutting the throat of the sheep and letting the blood drain. They then cut a tiny incision in the leg where they fill the carcass with air. This can be done with an electric pump, a foot pump or – as in this case – by mouth.
In a matter of 10 minutes they can have the sheep skin removed from the body and they then hang the carcass to properly butcher the sheep.
The skin is usually donated to the local mosque (who sell it for profit) and other portions of meat are given to the poor. The remaining goes to the house where it is cooked and used as part of the festivities over the next few days.
GZ Eid Adha Prayer Notice
If you are living in Guangzhou, you can pray in the mosques as below.
Prayer Date 1 Sep 2017 (Fri.)
Prayer Venue
HuaiSheng Guangta Mosque
Add No.56 Guangta Rd., Yuexiu District, Guangzhou (广州市越秀区光塔路56号)
Time 8:00am (only once)
Sage's Mosque (Abi Wagas)
Add No.901 Jiefangbei Rd.,Yuexiu District, Guangzhou (广州市越秀区解放北路901号)
1st time 7:30am
2nd time 8:30am
For Muslims, the Eid al-Adha is a grand and important event. Through all those rites and celebrations, this traditional festival keeps telling Muslims the importance of kindness and solidarity, which should be valued by all, regardless of race, nation or belief.
Above all,
Eid al-Adha Mubarak!
Source:
pics from FWChina
HACOS,Business Services Solutions Master