My Aidiladha 2008.

Allah hu akbar, Allah hu akbar, Allah hu akbar, Walillah hil ham.

Today is the fourth day of Aidiladha. My friends who are in Mina will now make their entrance to Mecca to complete their final ritual before I can address them as Tuan Haji. They will go back to the Grand Mosque, circle the Kaabah, seven rounds and perform the sai. Once they complete those two rituals, the Haj is completed. For those who went straight to Mecca during their arrival at Saudi Arabia, they will now have to make the journey to Medina to visit the Holy Tomb of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). If possible, they are to stay in Medina for at least eight days. It is sunat (not compulsory) to perform forty fardhu (compulsory) prayers without missing one at Nabawi Mosque.

My Aidiladha started on the eve of Aidiladha. After the Isyakh prayer, about thirty of the mosque congregation came to my house for tahlil and the recitation of takbir. On Aidiladha day, I performed my Aidiladha prayer at the kampong Mosque. It was drizzling, yet the Mosque was crowded. After the prayers the Mosque organized to slaughter twenty cows. I participated by joining two shares at cow number 13. Each cow is divided by seven shares. I did not participate on the slaughtering and cutting off the meat as the job was contracted and moreover the rain started pouring. I was glued to the television to follow the latest update of the landslide at Bukit Antarabangsa. I was sad to their misfortunes and to the affected Muslims who would not be able to celebrate Aidiladha. After the zohor prayer I collected my share, six kilos of fresh beef and few rib bones. My friend, Zaaba all the way from Mina send a short message that he was now in Mina and had completed the first stoning of the devil. Later my sister and her children visited me and we had a small Aidiladha feast. Since she would be visiting my mother in Ipoh, I packed some beef for my folks, back home. The rain finally stopped late in the evening. My fear worsened that another landslide would occur and I just prayed for the best.

The second day of Aidiladha – PAS in my kampong slaughtered three cows. I joined them late at 1100 hours and most work had already completed. Instead, I helped them to prepare the afternoon lunch. We cooked some fresh beef and fried salted fish. After the zohor prayer, the Imam came, said the doa and we had a simple lunch. Since it was very informal, the food seems to be very tasty and we really enjoyed it. I was to come later in the afternoon to help them to prepare for the night function but I was so tired and I skipped. After the Isyakh prayer we invited a Guest Speaker to deliver a sermon on the concept of Aidiladha. We then had a grand feast, beef soup and curry. The crowd was overwhelming. The function was considered a success and we went home late at night satisfied.

The third day of Aidiladha – I was back to my normal self, so as the kampong folks. Everybody got back to their routine except my friends who are still in Mina.



Insyaalah (Allah willing), I hope to be around for 2009 Aidiladha. Who knows? Maybe, I would be in Mina myself.