Estonia's Muslims celebrate Feast of Sacrifice
Like all Muslims around the globe, the tiny Muslim community in Estonia celebrated Eid Al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, at the Islamic Center in Tallinn on Monday morning.
At least 300 people of different nationalities and backgrounds gathered at the Tallinn mosque to observe Eid prayers, some of them having traveled from other Estonian counties.
After the prayers, people hugged and exchanged congratulations on the occasion of the arrival of the annual feast. Cookies and sweets were served at the mosque, where everybody was in a jubilant mood.
Muslims celebrate Eid Al-Adha to mark the occasion when the Prophet Ibraham, or Abraham, showed total submission to God's command as he was willing to sacrifice his son, Ismail, or Ishmael, and the Archangel Gabriel intervened at the last moment and replaced Ismail with a large sheep. Muslims commemorate this occasion annually by slaughtering livestock as a sacrifice.
Together with Eid Al-Fitr, which is celebrated at the end of Ramadan, Eid Al-Adha is one of the two main religious holidays in the Muslim calendar and is widely considered to be the bigger and holier of the two. On both occasions, Muslims wear their finest clothes, adorn their houses, give treats to children and visit friends and family members.
Editor: Editor: Aili Vahtla