Eid Al-adha

This blog is written by a student :  Ariadne Georgiou

My first celebration of Eid Al-Adha was so incredibly beautiful, peaceful, and enjoyable! The whole day was centered around family and friends—I don’t think I was alone for a moment all day— and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much by the end of it. My host family and I left Rabat the night before, heading to their grandmother’s house in a nearby town, and when we arrived, we spent several hours talking, laughing, and sharing stories over tea on the terrace. We went to sleep for a few hours, woke up early for prayer, then went back to sleep for another two hours. 

When we woke up again, it was time for the sacrifice — and as someone who isn’t Muslim and hasn’t eaten much meat for most of my life, I didn’t know what to expect. But the thoughtful intentionality of the halal practices, combined with the sense of peace and gentleness throughout the whole process made it feel deeply spiritual, full of gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifice the animal made to nourish our family.

Lunch was out of this world. Fresh bread, salads, and cheese were served, along with the meat, and the cooking and butchering process took most of the day. The whole day revolved around the sacrifice, and after eating, I washed the dishes and helped do laundry outside— the cool water felt so lovely in the midday heat — and played with my host cousins. 

My host uncle is a professional butcher, so he spent the entire day cutting and preparing the meat, and in the evening we went back into the city to distribute two thirds of it between our friends and those in need. This sacrifice of our own food, from the animal we had worked so hard to care for and prepare all day, drove home the idea that Eid was a day of giving, of generosity and consciousness. The evening tea was sweeter than ever, and my sister and I, in matching traditional dresses our host mom had bought us, danced to music in Arabic, English, and Spanish, with all the family clapping and laughing.