Eid-ul-Azha, also known as 'Festival of Sacrifice', is being celebrated by Muslims across the country today to commemorate the offer of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) to sacrifice his son Hazrat Ismael (AS) as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a ram for sacrifice, instead.
According to Islamic teachings, Eid-ul-Azha is a time for Muslims to learn the values of self-denial by making a sacrifice. Muslims across the country would be celebrating Eid-ul-Azha with traditional religious fervour.
The faithful will offer congregational Eid prayers in different Eidgahs, mosques and open places across the country. The biggest gathering is to be held at Faisal Mosque in Islamabad where dignitaries would also offer Eid prayers. Similar gatherings will be held in all parts of the provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad state of Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
Ulema and Khateebs in their Eid sermons will highlight the significance of Eid ul Azha and also offer prayers for the integrity, solidarity ands stability of the country as well as Muslim Ummah.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik has asked provincial chief secretaries to adopt strict security measures all over the country to prevent acts of terrorism during Eid ul Azha.
Policemen will be deployed around mosques, imambargahs, Eidgahs and other places where eid congregations would be held.
After the prayers, people would slaughter animals to mark the festival, an important religious occasion for the Muslims around the globe.
Those who are sacrificing animals of their choice have booked butchers to slaughter the sacrificial animals. Different organisations and NGOs are set to collect hides of sacrificial animals.
The government has announced Eid holidays for Monday to Wednesday. Newspapers will bring out special supplements while Radio and TV channels would present special programmes.
Meanwhile, a day before Eid-ul-Azha, the markets in Lahore were abuzz with customers shopping till late in the evening. The rush was more visible at variety of garment shops in Anarkali, Panorama Centre and Other markets.