The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Muslims from around the region gathered at the Masjid-e-Ali mosque on Cedar Grove Lane Sept. 24 to celebrate their annual Feast of Sacrifice.
Known as Eid Al-Adha, the holiday is the second feast holiday in the Islamic calendar, and considered by some to be the most important of all Islamic holidays.
The celebration commemorates the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, after Abraham has visions in which God tells him to do so. At the last minute, Abraham is stopped, according to tradition, and a lamb is sacrificed instead.
Many Muslims will sacrifice animals such as lambs or goats on the holiday, keep some of the meat and give the rest to the needy.
That idea of an obligation to provide for the less fortunate served as the foundation for the sermon given by the mosque’s Imam, Rizwan Rizvi.
“The reason behind sacrifice is so you get closer to the quality of perfection,” he said. “Sacrifice teaches us how to prefer others.”
Referring back to the story about Abraham, Rizvi said the father’s willingness to sacrifice his son “shows Abraham was able to detach his heart” from the thing he holds most precious, his son.
Following the service, attendees were served a lunch of Pakistani food in the mosque’s back yard.
