MINA, Saudi Arabia — Muslims around the world held Eid al-Adha celebrations Tuesday, slaughtering sheep and other livestock to give meat to the poor in the biggest holiday of the Islamic calendar.
In Saudi Arabia, about 2 million Muslims on the annual hajj pilgrimage performed a rite throwing pebbles at a series of walls representing Satan in a symbolic gesture of stoning the devil, rejecting sin and temptation. Afterward, they shaved their heads — or cut off a lock of hair — to show the renewal of their faith and the purification of their souls.
The rites kicked off the festivities of Eid al-Adha — or “Festival of Sacrifice” — for Muslims around the world. The holiday commemorates the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim — or Abraham, as he is known in the Bible — to sacrifice his son in accordance with God’s will, though in the end God provides him a sheep to sacrifice instead.
