Friday 26 declared public holiday to celebrate Eid El Adha

 By Taddeo Bwambale

The Government has declared Friday next week a public holiday, a day when Muslims worldwide will be celebrating Eid El-Adha.

The festival is in honour of Abraham willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to God, before he was asked to sacrifice a sheep.

The sacrifice symbolizes obedience to Allah and its distribution to others is an expression of generosity, one of the five pillars of Islam.

Also known as the ‘Festival of Sacrifice’, Muslims observe the day by slaughtering animals and then offering much of the meat in charity to poor people.

Eid El-Adha is also a holiday at the end of the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca which is one of the greatest religious observances in Islam.

The festival falls on the 10th day of the Dul Hijja, the last month of Islamic calendar.

“I can confirm that Friday next week will be a public holiday to commemorate Eid Al-Adha,” Jonas Tumwine, the spokesperson of the ministry of public service told the New Vision on Thursday.