Eid al-Adha — Festival of Sacrifice

Eid al-Adha falls on the 10th day of Dhul Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic lunar calendar — which means the date drifts about 11 days earlier each year against the Gregorian. In 2026 it begins on the evening of May 26.

The morning starts with a special prayer at the mosque or in an open field. After prayer, families who can afford to do so sacrifice a sheep, goat, or cow, and divide the meat three ways: one share for the household, one for friends and neighbors, and one for those in need. The act is a remembrance — of Ibrahim's willingness, and of the verse that opens the day's sermon almost everywhere: *that none of the meat nor blood reaches God, only your taqwa.*

For kids growing up in the diaspora, Eid al-Adha is often the day Mom or Dad calls home. It's the day the whole apartment smells like grilled meat and cardamom coffee. It's the day a kid in Toronto or London or Atlanta wears their best clothes to a prayer hall that's three times more crowded than usual.

If you want to share this day with your child, start small: the new outfit, the prayer they don't have to understand to remember, the food they'll talk about for a year.