- There is a $3 billion booming pre-holiday trade in sacrificial goats, cows and sheep
- This year, the official Eid holiday period coincides with another public holiday for Pakistan’s independence day
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will celebrate the second of two major annual Islamic festivals, Eid Al-Adha, on Monday. The South Asian country of 208 million people has a primarily Muslim population.
The government has announced holidays between August 12 and August 15, and the official holiday period this year coincides with another public holiday for Pakistan’s independence day on August 14th.
Eid Al-Adha celebrates one of the rites of Hajj for which two million Muslims have gathered in Saudi Arabia this year, and commemorates the Qur’anic story of the Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to Allah before Allah replaced the son with a ram to be sacrificed instead.
This commemoration means there is a booming pre-holiday trade in goats, cows and sheep. In Pakistan alone, more than 10 million animals, worth over $3 billion, are slaughtered during the two days of Eid Al-Adha, according to the Pakistan Tanners’ Association.
Eid congregational prayers will be held across the country in mosques and open areas shortly after sunrise tomorrow.
Ahead of the festival, distinct cattle markets are prepared for the trade and sacrifice of livestock. The day is usually spent with relatives, and it is common practice to distribute sacrificial meat among one’s family and the poor.