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DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/10 November) – Tuesday, November 16, the celebration of Eid’l Adha, the Islamic Feast of Sacrifice, is a national non-working holiday.
President Benigno S. Aquino III on November 9 issued Proclamation 60 declaring November 16 a holiday, based on Republic Act 9849, which provides that Eid’l Adha, though falling on movable dates every year, shall be celebrated as a national holiday.
According to Proclamation No. 60, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) has confirmed that the feast of Eid’l Adha falls on November 16.
Eid’l Adha is one of Islam’s two major festivals celebrated by 1.6 billion Muslims around the world.
It is celebrated at the end of Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. It commemorates Prophet Ibrahim’s (Abraham’s) supreme act of sacrificing his eldest son Ishmael. God spared the boy’s life and instead gave Abraham a lamb to sacrifice.
Worldwide, Eid’l Adha is observed through a gathering of the Islamic community in prayer, and sacrificing a lamb or goat and distributing its meat to family, friends and relatives, particularly the poor. (MindaNews)