The news came out today from the radio and newspapers. It is officially declared that Oman will have a long holiday in celebration for the Eid Al Adha or “Feast of Sacrifice” on the 26th of October.
For those who would like to know what this Eid Al Adha all about, I ask my Omani officemate, Omar, across my table. He told me that this feast is a celebration of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) willingness to follow Allah’s (God’s) command to sacrifice his son Ishamael (well, I have heard that same story in Christianity when we have bible study during my childhood). But when he was prepared to kills his son, Allah revealed to him that his “sacrifice” had already been fulfilled. Ibrahim had shown great love for Allah superceded others that he would offer his own life or the lives of those he loves in order to follow God.
He further tells me that Muslims normally have this feast at the end of Hajj or the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and the celebration will last for three days. During the celebration, they slaughter animals like sheep, camel, or goat and shared the meat to those who poor and unfortunate. A true Muslim has strength of heart, purity of faith, and willingness to obey Allah’s commands.
Apart from this tradition, this also means that the people, those who are working, will be on a long stretch of vacation days. The holiday for private sector will begin on Wednesday, 24th to 30th of October while those in the government sector will start from the 25th of October to 2nd of November, whole 9 days! Yeppeyy!!
We are lucky to enjoy the 9 days leave. So now, we can push through with our escapades together with our guests from Saudi Arabia who will visit Oman on the 27th to 30th.
Happy Eid Al Adha everyone!
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