Eid ul-Adha Trivia
Date of Celebration : between December 31, 2006 & January 2, 2007

 Eid ul-Adha

At a glance...

Official name

Arabic: عيد الأضح


Also called


The Festival of Sacrifice, Sacrifice Feast, Tabaski, Eyd-e Qorban, Kurban Bayram?, Qurbani Eid (In Bangladesh), Bakr-Id, Hari Raya Haji, Hari Raya Aidiladha


Observed by

Muslims


Type

Islamic


Significance


Commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim's (Abraham's) willingness to sacrifice his son for God. Marks the end of the Pilgrimage or Hajj for the millions of Muslims who make the trip to Mecca each year.


Begins

10 Dhu al-Hijjah



Ends 12 Dhu al-Hijjah
2006 date



January 10 to January 12; December 31 to January 2, 2007



2007 date

December 20 to December 22



Observances



Prayer, Sacrificing a Goat/Sheep, Eating with Family and Friends



Related to

Eid ul-Fitr, the other Islamic festival, which occurs the first day after Ramadan



Other Names for Eid ul-Adha



Eid ul-Adha is also known as Hari Raya Haji/Iduladha/Qurban in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines; Eid el-Kbir in Morocco and Libya; Tfaska Tamoqqart in the Berber language of Jerba; and Tabaski or Tobaski in West Africa.

In Bangladesh, Pakistan and India it is also called Id ul-Zuha, and commonly referred to as Bakr-Id "Goat Eid" as goat is the major sacrificial animal in those countries.

In Turkey it is often referred to as the Kurban Bayrami or "Sacrifice Feast". Similarly, in Bosnia and Albania it is referred as Kurban Bajram.



Eid ul-Adha in the Gregorian Calendar



While Eid ul-Adha is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year since the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar. Each year, Eid ul-Adha (like other Islamic holidays) falls on one of two different Gregorian dates in different parts of the world, due to the fact that the boundary of crescent visibility is different from the International date line. Furthermore, some countries follow the date in Saudi Arabia rather than the astronomically determined local calendar.

* 2005: January 21; January 20 in Saudi Arabia
* 2006: January 10 or January 11; also, December 31
* 2007: December 20
* 2008: December 8
* 2009: November 28
* 2010: November 17
* 2011: November 7



The Saudi authorities had originally confirmed that Eid ul-Adha in 2005 would begin on Friday, January 21, but subsequently moved up the date by one day to January 20, possibly for better crowd control by avoiding Hajj during the weekend. The official reason was that the new moon was sighted earlier than expected, starting the month of Dhul Hijja one day early.