Bay Area Muslims to Celebrate 'Eid-ul-Adha' in Milpitas Sunday

One of the most significant and joyous days for Muslims will be celebrated at , 926 Evans Road in Milpitas, this Sunday, Nov. 6.

Hundreds of Muslims from all over the Bay Area are expected to visit the mosque Sunday to participate in prayers, hear sermons, and socialize before setting out into the community to bring meat and other gifts to fellow Muslims.

It’s all part of a tradition known as Eid-ul-Adha, one of two Eids celebrated each year by Muslims. The first, Eid-ul-Fitr, marks the end of Ramadan, and typically takes place in early September. The second, Eid-ul-Adha, takes place—depending on the lunar calendar—anywhere between the end of October to early November, and this year, falls on Nov. 6.

Eid-ul-Adha marks the end of hajj festivities for Muslims. Hajj means “pilgrimage” in Arabic, and refers to the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia that is a monumental and holy tradition in the Muslim religion.

“The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. Every Muslim is supposed to, at least one time in their life, visit Mecca, if political and economic conditions are favorable,” explained Idrees Munir, a member of the Baitul Baseer Mosque. “Such as, if you can afford it, and there are no restrictions against it.”

Eid-ul-Adha is also a symbolic celebration that memorializes the Biblical story of Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice his son to show his love for God.

“He had a dream that God asked him to sacrifice his son for the name of all mankind,” Munir said. “He agreed, and once his son was mature enough, he talked to him, and his son agreed, and just before the actual sacrifice happened, God told them, ‘you have passed the test. Do not sacrifice your son, I was testing you.’”

Munir said, Eid-ul-Adha is the time each year in the Muslim tradition that celebrates Abraham’s sacrifice, and keeps the spirit of his devotion alive through activities that strengthen the bond between local Muslims in a community, and giving to those who are less fortunate.

“This event is to celebrate that spirit,” he said. “We want to inject that into this generation, and the next and the next. We want to keep it alive.”

This Sunday, Munir said, the Eid event will begin at 10 a.m. with prayers and a sermon. Then, members of the mosque—and anyone from the public who would like to join in—will meet and greet each other, socialize, and celebrate.

Following the celebration, everyone will then go out into the community to visit each other’s homes, visit with the poor and the sick, and exchange gifts with each other. This can often go on for two to four days.

Traditionally, there are also animal sacrifices such as goats and sheep as a symbol of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son for God, and then the meat of the animals is cleaned and cut and distributed to friends, family and the poor.

Munir said, the animal sacrifices are not typically performed in the United States. Rather, families will purchase pure, fresh meat from local slaughterhouses or butchers, have it delivered it to them, and they will then distribute it throughout the community in the same spirit.

“So it’s different here, but the intentions are the same,” he explained.

Munir said he will typically greet at least 80 to 100 people at his home in Milpitas during the visiting part of the Eid-ul-Adha festivities. Then, he and his family will go out into the community, and visit with other friends and families, as well as visit the underprivileged, such as at soup kitchens, hospitals and homeless shelters, as well as to graveyards to visit with the dead and remember them.

Munir, who came to America from Pakistan, said it is all very important to him and his family.

“I want my kids to know, what our forefathers were all about, what the spirit is all about. This is what I did as a child,” he said. “I am not in Pakistan anymore, but that is where I grew up, and I want to keep the memories alive.”

“Keeping [these traditions] is what keeps us alive.”