The Muslim Festival of Sacrifice, more commonly know as Eid al-Adha, started yesterday, Nov. 16.

“Eid al-Adha is the celebration by Muslims to signify Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his eldest son, Ishmael, as an act of obedience to God. In place of his son, God left a lamb. So on al-Adha, we sacrifice lambs and cows in basically a thanks and obedience to God,” junior Adeeba Rasoli said.

Rasoli is one of many students at AHS that celebrate Eid, and although students as a whole don’t have a designated day off to dedicate to the Muslim holiday, Muslim students were excused.

“I think we should have a day of for Eid because there are a lot of Muslim students in the area, and at AHS,” senior Salma Omer said.

“I celebrate by not going to school,” sophomore Ansarullah Haidari said. “We get together and have a big feast, and we also give money and food to charity. The girls paint their hands with henna, it’s traditional and it’s like putting on jewelry.”

“We actually have two Eid’s, Eid ul-Fitr which is at the end of Ramadan and this one, Eid al-Adha which is in honor of Abraham. It’s celebrated after the Hajj,” senior Saniyah Mir said.

The Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia to the Kaaba and its something that all Muslims must do at least once in their lifetime as one of the five pillars of Islam.

Like most holidays, Eid al-Adha is a family holiday. “My family came over to my house and we had dinner together,” Junior Nisreen Al-Suqi said. “The kids usually receives gifts and money, but as we grow older our parents forget!”

Freshman Ruqia Wesug said, “I get a lot of gifts, and money. It’s a family holiday, so we come together and celebrate as a family.”

Eid al-Adha covers 4 days and will continue until Friday.