Walking in Cairo these days, you can hear everybody saying 3īd sa3īd عيد سعيد / kullə sána wí-ntu ʈayyibīn كُلّ سنة و اِنْتو طيِّبين happy feast! It’s time for the great sacrifice feast called 3īd ilʔáɖɧa عيد الأضْحَى Eid Al-Adha. In the Islamic society there are two main feasts: one of them is the breakfast feast 3īd ilfíʈr عيد الفِطْر Eid Alfetr and the other is 3īd ilʔáɖɧa عيد الأضْحَى the Sacrifice Feast. What is the origin of the Sacrifice Feast? It was a long time ago when abū -lʔanbíya ibrahīm أبو الأنِبياء إبْراهيم Ibrahim the father of prophets had a vision of himself slaying his son isma3īl إسماعيل Ismail, and he thought it was a vision of aLLāh الله God to sacrifice his son. So both the father and son decided to obey aLLāh الله God, and went to perform the vision. At this moment aLLāh الله God sent them a great sheep and told them they had the will to obey him, so this sheep will be the sacrifice instead of Ismail. Since that time, it became a feast celebrating the survival of Ismail, showing aLLāh الله God the will to obey him and emphasizing the act of caring for each other, all of that by having aɖɧíyya أضْحية a sacrifice, which is xarūf خروف a sheep, 3igl عِجْل a cow, or gámal جمل a camel. Each year you can see capable Muslims all around the world sacrificing, giving [to] the poor, praying to thank aLLāh الله, gathering to make barbecues, and celebrating together. The timing of that feast varies from year to year in ittaqwīm ilmilādi التّقْويم الميلادي the Georgian calendar, because it goes with ittaqwīm ilhígri التقْويم الهِجري the Hijri Calendar, exactly in the 10th day of zī -lɧíjja ذي الحِجّة Zelhegga, the last month of issána -lhigríyya السّنة الهِجْرية the Higri year.

Islam puts regulations to do this sacrifice:

• It should be made in the 10th day, not before it.
• The animal should be in a certain age.
• The slayer must be a professional with a very sharp knife, as not to hurt the animal.
• And it is forbidden that the slay is done in front of other animals.
• Afterwards the cleaning of the place is a must.

3īd ilʔáɖɧa عيد الأضْحَى Eid Al-Adha is a very delightful celebration for all Muslims. I recommend that you invite yourself that day with a Muslim family to have unforgettable nice time. 

More about the Sacrifice Feast: