by Humaira
Happy Eid al-Adha or Eid e Qurban, which is what we call this holiday in Afghanistan, to all my Muslim friends. Eid al-Adha, or "Festival of Sacrifice", is celebrated by Muslims to mark the occasion when Allah (God) appeared to Ibrahim in a dream and asked him to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, to demonstrate his devotion to the Almighty.
Ignoring the advice of the Devil, who tried to tempt Ibrahim into disobeying God by saying he should spare Ishmael, Ibrahim was about to press ahead with the sacrifice when Allah stopped him and gave him a lamb to kill instead.
Today the story is commemorated on Eid by the sacrifice of a sheep, or sometimes a goat, although in Britain the animal must be killed at a slaughterhouse. The day is a public holiday in Muslim countries, and the festival's Arabic title has connotations of a period of rejoicing that comes back time and again.
I write this blog about Afghan culture and food to help people learn about the beautiful culture and food of Afghanistan. I feel sharing a table with another person is the best way to get to know each other and that is exactly what travel blogger Drew Binsky does in his travel blog videos about Afghanistan. Yup, he travelled in Afghanistan for six days and lived to tell the stories through his excellent videos.
Drew roams the streets of Kabul & Mazar in a rickshaws, buys a peran tumban (okay, I forgive him for calling it shalwar kameez, the Pakistani name of the outfit) and he eats lots and lots of Afghan food.
Thank you Drew for showing an authentic side of Afghanistan to the world.