Eid al-Adha observance fosters interfaith understanding; promotes peace and harmony

Eid al-Adha, which means the Festival of Sacrifice, is being observed on July 9 by virtue of Republic Act 9849 that was enacted by Congress in 2009 as a national holiday “in the month of Hajj or Islamic Pilgrimage to Mecca wherein Muslims pay homage to Abraham’s supreme act of sacrifice and signifies mankind’s obedience to God.”

During the festival, capable families perform a ritual by which the flesh of a sheep, goat, camel or cow is ritually sacrificed and distributed equally among themselves, their friends and neighbors, as well as the poor. This festival also commemorates the ransom with a goat of the patriarch Ibrahim (Abraham) of his son Ismail (Ishmael).

As described by authoritative sources: “The hajj is a once-in-a-lifetime duty for all Muslims physically and financially able to make the journey, which takes the faithful along a path traversed by the Prophet Muhammad some 1,400 years ago. Pilgrims spend five days carrying out a set of rituals intended to bring them closer to God. Each person walks briskly back and forth, counter-clockwise, seven times around the Kaaba, a cube-shaped building, and the direction of prayer for Muslims).”

According to the Quran, all Muslims capable of going on the hajj should do so at least once in their lifetimes. It is estimated that about a million Muslim pilgrims are visiting Mecca this year for the first hajj since 2019 without strict restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the National Commission on Muslim Affairs (NCMF), the government paid the Hajj pilgrimage fees of 3,500 Filipino pilgrims this year in the total amount of $5.773 million. The NCMF was established in February 2010 by Republic Act 9997 NCMF under the Office of the President. It replaced the Office on Muslim Affairs (OMA) which was created pursuant to executive orders issued in 1987.

The Commission’s mandate is to “preserve and develop the culture, tradition, institutions, and well-being of Muslim Filipinos, in conformity with the country’s laws and in consonance with national unity and development.”

Observance of the Eid al-Adha and the Eid’l Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadhan, bolsters national cultural unity as this promotes heightened awareness of important Muslim values and traditions. Muslims constitute the second largest faith group among Filipinos.

Cognizant of religious diversity, adherents of different faiths could work toward enhanced mutual respect, understanding and empathy through constant dialogue that, in turn, fosters cooperation in upholding peace and justice at the community level and in the larger society. This is essential in deterring religious extremism and violence.