More than 1.7 million pilgrims are walking around the cube-shaped Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to celebrate the start of the Hajj pilgrimage.
Eid al-Adha celebrations begin two days after the start of Hajj – the important annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, the holy city in a desert valley in Saudi Arabia.
When is Eid al-Adha 2017?
The start of Eid al-Adha depends on the sighting of the new crescent moon and its celebration can vary in different countries around the world.
The holy festival, also known as the ‘sacrifice feast’ or Greater Eid, begins on the 10th day of the holiest month in the Islamic lunar calendar.
Friday September 1 has now been confirmed to be the first day of Eid al-Adha 2017 after the new moon crescent was sighted on August 22.
Saudi Arabia’s High Judicial Court has confirmed that the first day of the Muslim festival falls on Friday. But Pakistan will mark it from September 2.
The festival sometimes falls on different days around the world and is only confirmed by the sighting of the new crescent moon.
Celebrations of Eid al-Adha vary around the world. Muslims greet each other by saying ‘Eid Mubarak’ on during the festival which involves prayers and visits to friends and family.
The festival commemorates Abraham’s sacrifice to God and in some parts of the world Muslims sacrifice livestock such as cows, sheep or goat.
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