The Festival of Sacrifice Kurban Bayram, celebrated this year on July 20, will be held without mass festivities and in compliance with all requirements of Rospotrebnadzor, said Ismail Berdiyev, chairman of the coordinating center of Muslims of the North Caucasus, Mufti of Karachay-Cherkessia, to RIA Novosti.
Kurban Bayram (in Turkic), or Eid al-Adha (in Arabic), is one of the main holidays of Muslims. It is celebrated with mass prayers and celebrations. Traditionally, during the Festival of Sacrifice, there is the ritual slaughter of animals. It is celebrated on the tenth day of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, in the Islamic lunar calendar, and lasts three days. Every year the date of the holiday changes, in 2021 Eid al-Adha begins on July 20.
"Eid al-Adha is an annual holiday. This year it falls on a pandemic. We warn people not to gather in large companies. The appeal to believers on Eid al-Adha is to come to the mosque first with their rug and mask, and then to go home. This is relevant for all regions of the Caucasus," Berdiyev said.
According to him, traditionally Eid al-Adha was declared a regional weekend. "I hope it will be the same this time. Nevertheless, we will not hold mass events, meals, celebrations. Sacrifices are made at home," stressed the Mufti.
"We fully comply with the restrictions that Rospotrebnadzor suggests, they have not yet been removed. The prayers will be held in compliance with sanitary norms. There will be no changes on Eid al-Adha," concluded the interlocutor of the agency.
Earlier, Chairman of the Religious Board of Muslims of Moscow, Mufti of Moscow Ildar Alyautdinov told RIA Novosti that mosques will be closed for parishioners on the holiday, but believers will be able to watch online broadcasts of the holiday prayers and sermons. According to him, before the pandemic more than 100 thousand people used to come to the Moscow Cathedral Mosque for Eid al-Adha and "it is impossible to comply with antiviral measures in such conditions".
Access to mosques in the capital on non-holiday days is open to worshippers, prayers are held in compliance with sanitary measures - "distance, masks, sanitizing hands at the entrance".
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from RIA Novosti