Kampala, Uganda: Muslims across the world are preparing to observe Eid al-Adha, the second and most significant of Islam’s two major festivals, on Friday, June 6, 2025, the Saudi Press Agency has confirmed.
The Agency, in a brief statement on Monday, announced that this year’s Arafat Day will fall on June 5, while Eid al-Adha will be the following day, June 6th.
Tawfiq al-Rabiah, Saudi Arabia’s hajj minister, said that just over a million pilgrims from across the world had already arrived in the country. Last year, 1.8 million Muslims took part in the hajj, according to official figures.
“Eid al-Adha is a reminder of submission, sacrifice, and sharing. It teaches us to care for others and to remember the importance of obedience to Allah,” says Sheikh Muhammad Yunus Kamoga, a prominent Islamic scholar in Uganda.
The festival commemorates the Qur’anic account of Prophet Ibrahim’s (Abraham’s) unwavering faith and obedience to God, when he was commanded to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as a test of devotion.
As the story goes, God intervened and replaced Ismail with a ram, a moment Muslims honour each year through the act of Qurbani, or the ritual slaughter of an animal.
The festival also coincides with the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the five pillars of Islam. Every adult Muslim who is physically and financially able is required to undertake the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. Hajj rites begin on the 8th of Dhul Hijjah and culminate on the 10th, with Eid al-Adha marking the third day of Hajj, also known as Yawm an-Nahr (the Day of Sacrifice).
In Uganda, as in much of the Muslim world, the festival will be marked by early morning prayers (Salat al-Eid) held in mosques and open grounds, followed by the ritual sacrifice of animals, usually goats, sheep, cows, or camels. The meat is divided into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy.
Muslim families traditionally wear new or clean clothes, attend congregational prayers, offer greetings of Eid Mubarak, and visit relatives.
In Uganda, Eid celebrations are also marked by charitable giving (Sadaqah and Zakat) and community feasts, with many mosques and Islamic centres organizing special distributions for the less privileged.
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