Pakistani Muslims offer Eid al-Adha prayers in Lahore on Sept. 25, 2015. Muslims across the world celebrated the annual festival of Eid al-Adha, or the Festival of Sacrifice, which marks the end of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.Arif Ali/Getty Images
Muslims around the world celebrated Eid Al-Adha this week. One of the two major Muslim holidays, Eid Al-Adha typically lasts four days and marks the end of hajj, the once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca all able-bodied Muslims are required to make. (In some countries, the holiday was celebrated beginning on Thursday; in others, it started Friday.)
The holiday also commemorates the willingness of the prophet Abraham to sacrifice his son as an act of submission to God. Muslims believe that the angel Gabriel intervened, telling Abraham that God had already accepted his sacrifice. To mark that sacrifice, Muslims who are financially able sacrifice an animal -- such as a sheep -- and distribute the meat among family, friends and the poor. While the holiday is celebrated in diverse ways by diverse cultures, certain rites, such as morning Eid prayers, and the commemorative animal sacrifice span the globe.
A Modern Eid In Pakistan
Muslims take a selfie before a mass prayer for Eid al-Adha at the Badshahi mosque in Lahore, Pakistan, Sept. 25, 2015.Reuters/Mohsin Raza
Preparing To Sacrifice A Goat In India
Indian Muslim devotees pose for a photograph with a goat following prayers during the sacrificial festival of Eid al-Adha at the Kharudin Mosque in Amritsar on Sept. 25, 2015. Narinder Nanu/Getty Images
A Moment Of Contemplation In Nepal
A Nepali Muslim man looks on from a balcony as he waits to attend a mass prayer during the Eid al-Adha celebrations at the Kashmiri Takiya Jame mosque in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sept. 25, 2015. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar
Awaiting Food In Indonesia
Indonesian Muslims queue to get a share of the sacrificial meat during celebrations of Eid al-Adha at Sunda Kelapa Mosque on Sept. 24, 2015, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Oscar Siagian/Getty Images
Carefree Festivities In Iraq
Iraqis ride a ferris wheel at an amusement park in the southern city of Basra on the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday on Sept. 24, 2015.Haidar Mohammed Ali/Getty Images
Silent Prayers In Myanmar
Muslims perform the Eid al-Adha prayer at a mosque in Yangon, Myanmar, Sept. 25, 2015.Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun
Morning Prayers In France
Muslims pray during the Muslim festivities of Eid al-Adha at the mosque in Cherbourg-Octeville, France, on Sept. 24, 2015Charly Triballeau/Getty Images
Bonding In Brooklyn
Young women and girls are seen after Eid Al-Adha prayers outside the Masjid At-Taqwa mosque in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Sept. 24, 2015. Reuters/Stephanie Keith
Sweet Remembrances In India
Indian Muslim devotees pack rose petals for devotees to leave as offerings on the graves of their relatives after Eid al-Adha prayers in Hyderabad, Sept. 25, 2015.Noah Seelam/Getty Images
Sacrificing Sheep In Sudan
Children watch a sheep being loaded into the trunk of a car at a market during preparations for Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice) in Khartoum, Sudan, Sept. 23, 2015Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
