The Awqaf (Religious Endowment) Ministry announced Tuesday it has allocated 4,000 open air public areas nationwide to perform Eid al-Adha prayer scheduled for Thursday morning, Al-Ahram reported.
Two “moderate” Islamic preachers have been assigned to deliver the Eid al-Adha sermon at each public area, the ministry stated, adding a warning against any “misuse of the sermon in making propaganda for a certain parliamentary election candidate.”
The ministry also has specified the sermon topics, including the virtues Muslim should follow during the Eid holiday and called on preachers to act according to the instructions.
Eid Al-Adha, also called the Feast of Sacrifice or the Greater Bairam, is one of two major religious holidays celebrated each year by Muslims worldwide. It marks the annual Hajj, or the Islamic pilgrimage to the holy sites in Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which is the largest annual religious gathering worldwide.
According to Islamic belief, the Eid Al-Adha honors the willingness of Prophet Abraham to sacrifice his son Ismail as an act of submission to Allah’s order, before Allah intervened to provide Abraham with a lamb to sacrifice instead; a tradition that is still being practiced by contemporary Muslims.
