DUSHANBE, October 19, 2013, Asia-Plus – Turkish Embassy in Dushanbe has provided assistance to orphanages, nursing homes, disabled children homes and hospitals in Tajikistan on the occasion of Idi Qurbon or Eid al-Adha in Arabic.
Eid al-Adha, “Festival of Sacrifice” or “Greater Eid,” is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as an act of obedience to God, but instead was able to sacrifice a ram (by God”s command). Eid is also about spending time with family and friends, sacrifice, and thanksgiving for being able to afford food and housing. In traditional or agrarian settings, each family would sacrifice a domestic animal, such as a sheep, goat, cow, or camel, by slaughter (though some contemporary Muslims do not sacrifice an animal as part of their observance, it is still a very popular tradition, even in Muslim communities in Europe). The meat would then be divided into three equal parts to be distributed to others. The family eats one third, another third is given to other relatives, friends or neighbors, and the other third is given to the poor as a gift.
According to the Turkish Embassy in Dushanbe, within the context of Eid al-Adha Aid Campaign, which is organized by Presidency of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Turkey and Turkish Religious Affairs Foundation, 143 cattle were sacrificed in Dushanbe, Tursunzoda, Khujand, Kulob, Vose, Hamadoni, Farkhor, Khovaling, Muminobod, Timurmalik, Danghara, Shouroobod and Norak by Turkish Embassy Religious Affairs Counselor in cooperation with the Tajik official bodies and institutions.
Approximately 20 tons of meat were distributed to orphanages, nursing homes, disabled children homes, hospitals and other official institutions according to the lists provided by Tajik official institutions i.e. Governorships, official district agencies and Tajikistan Islamic Center.
