Holiday brings community together

The sound of arabic chanting filled the field house as guests from, Caucasian and other ethnicities watched Abdulqader Turkustani read from the Quran.

EWU Saudi Club hosted the Eid Al-Adha celebration in the Jim Thorpe Fieldhouse on Nov. 10. The event was sponsored by Grin and Giggles Family Dentistry and Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission to the U.S.

Eid Al-Adha, which means “feast of sacrifice,” is a religious holiday that begins on the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the final month of the Islamic calendar. The feast lasts for four days.

Muslims all over the world celebrate Eid Al-Adha to honor both Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail at Allah’s command and Ismail’s willingness to be sacrificed as acts of submission to Allah. However, Allah intervened and gave Ibrahim a ram to sacrifice in his son’s place.

Although the actual Eid Al-Adha holiday was celebrated on Oct. 26, the Saudi Club had to host the celebration in November due to reasons beyond their control, according to Saudi Club Vice President Alyaa Malibari.

In addition to celebrating Eid Al-Adha, the Saudi Club also used the event as a way to educate others about Islam and Muslim culture.

“We are here as ambassadors for our country and our religion,” Malibari said. “Because of the many actions and recent issues regarding Muslims and Islam, we thought it would be a good idea to dedicate this event to show some good messages regarding Muslims and Islam.”

After reciting parts of the Holy Book and explanation of the holiday, Saudi Club President Bandar Alfaifi gave a speech in his native tongue while Malibari presented a video about Islam.

Tariq Al-Zuhairi was one of the people who attended the celebration.

Although he felt the event could have been better organized, he found it interesting that Saudi Arabia had different cultures.

“There [are] many regions and each area has its own traditions and ways of talking, dressing and even food,” Al-Zuhairi said.

Members of the community who were not Arabic attended the celebration to support their adopted family members or neighbors.

Felicia Johnson is a co-worker of Dr. Mostafa Kabbani at Grin and Giggles, who provided the food for the event.

“I’m glad to see it [and] to learn a little bit about the doctor’s culture and to see what it’s all about,” Johnson said. “I liked the dancing.”

The celebration featured three traditional dances, including the Mizmar, which is where dancers move to the sound of drums while twirling a bamboo cane. There was also singing and a speech given by an audience member.

Despite the actual date of Eid Al-Adha being back in October, Malibari was happy to see many people attend.

“We are so happy to have all these people to celebrate as one big family” Malibari said.