In Pictures: More Muslims celebrate Eid
Eid al-Adha, known as the Feast of Sacrifice, coincides with the final rites of the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia.
Muslims are celebrating Eid al-Adha, one of the biggest holidays in the Islamic calendar, with full meat-based feasts.
Eid al-Adha, known as the Feast of Sacrifice, coincides with the final rites of the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia.
It is a joyous occasion for which food is a hallmark, with devout Muslims buying and slaughtering animals and sharing two-thirds of the meat with the poor.
It varies according to moon sightings in different parts of the world.
Mosques flooded with devotees offering morning prayers, including in Jakarta’s Istiqlal Grand Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia.
“This year’s celebration is much more lively than last year’s.”
Huge crowds filled the yards of mosques to participate in ritual animal slaughter for the festival.
Indonesia’s government has decided to extend this year’s feast of sacrifice holiday by giving an extra two days of mandatory leave before and after the Muslim festival in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
“It would allow more time for people to travel and enjoy their holiday in a bid to spur more economic activities, particularly domestic tourism,” Mr Widodo said last week.
Eid al-Adha commemorates the Quranic tale of Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice Ismail as an act of obedience to God.
In the Christian and Jewish telling, Abraham is ordered to kill another son, Isaac.
Last year, a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak disrupted the ritual slaughter of animals to mark Eid al-Adha in Indonesia.
Foot-and-mouth disease is an acute, highly contagious viral disease of cloven-footed animals that is sometimes transmitted to humans.
It significantly dampened the typically booming holiday trade in goats, cows and sheep in Indonesia.
The government, struggling to cope, set up a task force and ordered the culling of tens thousands infected livestock.
