LEWISTON – Hundreds of local Muslims crowded the Ramada Inn on Tuesday, saying prayers and giving alms to the poor to mark their holy day.
It was the beginning of Eid ul-Adha, a four-day holiday that celebrates submission to God’s will. The celebration commemorates the story of Ibrahim and his son. Told to sacrifice his son as an offering to God, Ibrahim obeys. God rescues the father and son at the last moment, providing a substitute sheep for the sacrifice.
The story, told in the Bible and the Koran, reminds the faithful to be submissive to God and to make sacrifices in the name of their religion. Around the world, many Muslims still mark the day by sacrificing a sheep to God and distributing the meat to friends, neighbors and the poor.
“If we were still in Somalia, or many other places in the world, you would see that kind of sacrifice,” said Abdi Sheikh, a member of the Lewiston-Auburn Islamic Center.
Modern sacrifice in the United States takes the form of dollars, collected from the faithful at morning prayers and distributed among the poor in the community.
Around the world, the holiday marks the end of the Hajj, the traditional time of pilgrimage to Mecca.
The feast is the second major celebration in the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan and its annual monthlong fast.
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