h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

On the festival of Eid Al-Adha, do people really still sacrifice goats? or is their a more modern equivlent for those living in cities.


Bharian certainly sounds like a country I'd like to visit

the discussion of the Islamic calender was interesting. It reminded me somewhat of the Hebrew calendar. The difference being that most Jewish holidays revolve around agricultural events. The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar of 12 months- every 3 or 4 years they add a thirteenth month to keep the months from wandering through the seasons. I'm curious about the sacrificing of goats, too. Judaism no longer practices sacrifices because there is no temple or priesthood authorized to perform them any more. Christianity does not sacrifice because it is felt Jesus Christ was the real sacrifice and the Old testament sacrifices were just symbolic of JC's sacrifice any way. Hence they are no longer necessary. What is the purpose of sacrifices in Islam ? Is it to cleanse people of sins, or is there another reason?

I understand that facilities are provided for people to carry out sacrifice, so yes, it is done.

My (perhaps simplistic) interpretation of the reason for sacrifice is that it stems from the biblical/quranic tale of Abraham (Ibrahim) being instructed by God to sacrifice his son, Isaac (Ismael). In doing so, God was demonstrating that ALL things belong to God and that even a child is not the property of its father.

DMT