World Muslims mark Eid-ul-Azha, warned of dangers

Muslims around the world marked the Eid-ul-Azha on Sunday overshadowed by the Arab Spring as Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia were warned of dangers and urged to rally around their rulers.
Eid al-Azha, or the Feast of Sacrifice which caps the Hajj to Makkah, honours Hazrat Ibrahim's (AS) willingness to sacrifice his son Hazrat Ismael (AS) on the order of God, Who according to Islamic tradition provided a lamb in the boy's place.
This year's Hajj coincides with the Arab Spring democracy protests that have swept many nations in the region and led to the ouster of the autocratic leaders of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
In the latter, people were struggling to find the funds to mark the feast due to skyrocketing prices in the wake of an eight-month rebellion that ended with the killing of Moamer Qadhafi last month.
In Syria, devotees emerged from Eid al-Azha prayers on Sunday morning to rally against President Bashar al-Assad's regime despite a protest crackdown the UN says has killed at least 3,000 people since March.
And the security forces shot dead another four civilians on Sunday, including three in the flash point central city of Homs, and another in Hama further to the north, according to human rights activists.
The latest bloodshed came as Syrian state-run radio reported that Assad himself attended Al-Nur mosque in the northern town of Raqqa for morning prayers to mark the Muslim holy day.
In a sermon delivered to Hajj pilgrims at Mount Arafat on Saturday, Saudi mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh warned the "Muslim world was passing through one of the most dangerous periods in its history. Muslims were urged to adhere to religion and support their leaders.
Rulers "must establish justice and fight corruption, and prioritise the welfare of the people. The subjects must rally around their commanders and strive to solve their problems peacefully and shun chaos," said the sheikh.
Addressing the rulers of the Muslim world, he said: "Do not terrify them (the subjects), do not use against them weapons meant for your enemies."
In Gaza City, Ismail Haniya, head of the Islamist Hamas government, addressed worshippers at the Palestine Mosque, and hailed the three-day feast as the "Eid of freedom" for the Arab world.
"On this blessed day, we call our Eid the Eid of Freedom," he said. "It is the Eid of Freedom for Egypt and Tunisia and Libya and all the peoples who triumphed over tyranny. "The people remade the glory of their civilisation after years of political prison, loss and dependence," he added.
Haniya said the feast was also an "Eid of Victory," hailing a landmark prisoner swap deal that saw the movement free captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in return for 1,027 jailed Palestinians.
A first group of 477 prisoners were released as Shalit went home, with the second group of 550 to be freed within two months.
In Saudi Arabia, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims stoned Satan after massing in a valley near the holy city of Mina, the last rite of the annual Hajj. Hundreds of people have been trampled to death in stampedes which have blighted several previous pilgrimages to Islam's holiest sites when the faithful rush to hurl stones at huge pillars symbolising the devil.
To complete the ritual, a pilgrim must throw 21 pebbles at each of three 25-metre (82-foot) pillars.
"This ritual gives me moral strength. Right now I feel as though I'm defeating Satan," said Mokhtar Khan, a 29-year-old who arrived at the site with dozens of fellow Bangladeshis who chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest). But despite their prayers, the first day of Eid al-Azha was marred by more violence around the Muslim world.
Residents of the north-eastern Nigerian city of Damaturu marked the Muslim feast amid fears and tears after deadly attacks claimed by Islamists killed at least 150 people.
In Afghanistan, a suicide bomber killed up to eight people, mostly civilians, as they returned from Eid al-Azha prayers at a mosque in the northern city of Baghlan.
And in Iraq, four bombs exploded in Baghdad's Shorjah market, killing at least one person and wounding eight, security officials said.
The blasts came despite beefed up security for the festival around mosques, parks and other public areas, including a 32,000-strong force in the central Shiite shrine city of Najaf.
In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, Eid al-Azha was marked by all-night prayer, the sacrifice of goats and cows and family meals of rice cakes and meat dishes. In keeping with tradition, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono offered a 1.2-tonne cow for sacrifice after prayers at Jakarta's Istiqlal mosque, which is to slaughter 60 cows and 27 goats for meat to be distributed to 10,000 people.
Eid al-Azha will be held on Monday in some parts of the Muslim world including Iran, Pakistan and Bangladesh, where at least eight people died as tens of millions poured out of cities for a five-day holiday triggered by the feast.