The French Council of Muslim Faith has set the start of the Eid el-Kébir festival for this Sunday, June 16. Practitioners traditionally slaughter an animal and offer its meat to people in need.
Major festival of Islam, Eid el-Kebir (“the great festival”), also called Eid al-Adha (“the festival of sacrifice”), begins this Sunday, June 16 for the Muslim faithful with three days of celebrations in sight.
This festival is celebrated by Muslims around the world in memory of the sacrifice that Abraham almost made by wanting to immolate his son, before the angel Gabriel offered him at the last minute to kill a sheep in his place, according to tradition.
On this occasion, practitioners slaughter an animal, usually a sheep, and offer part of the meat to the needy.
Many faithful gathered at Mount Arafat
For this day, pilgrims will perform the great annual ritual, throwing stones at steles representing Satan, in the Mina Valley, in Saudi Arabia, before returning to Mecca for new convolutions around the Kaaba, in the center of the Great Mosque.
On Saturday, the faithful collected stones and slept under the stars in the plain of Mouzdalifa, located a few kilometers from Mina, after having spent the day praying and reciting the Koran at Mount Arafat. Temperatures are particularly high this year, with up to 46°C recorded.
The stoning ritual turned into a tragedy in 2015 when a stampede left 2,300 dead, but the site has since undergone major developments to streamline the movement of crowds.
More than 1.8 million pilgrims
One of the five pillars of Islam, the hajj must be performed by all Muslims at least once in their life if they can afford it.
As in 2023, more than 1.8 million faithful took part this year, including 1.6 million from abroad, the Saudi authorities announced on Saturday.
The celebrations are overshadowed this year by the deadly war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip, subject to intense bombardment and besieged for more than eight months.
Some 2,000 Palestinians, half of whom are family members of victims in Gaza, were invited this year by King Salman for the pilgrimage. The authorities, however, warned that no political slogans would be tolerated during the hajj.
