Duterte declares August 21 a regular holiday for Eid'l Adha

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 10:15 a.m.) — President Rodrigo Duterte has declared August 21 a regular holiday to honor Eid'l Adha, the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice.

A copy of Proclamation No. 556 which declares August 21 as a holiday was released Wednesday. The declaration was made upon the recommendation of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos.

LOOK: Palace declares Aug. 21, Eid'l Adha, as a regular holiday @PhilippineStar @PhilstarNews #WalangPasok pic.twitter.com/D0PkTay853

— Alexis B. Romero (@alexisbromero) August 15, 2018

An Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao government website stated that the tentative date of the Eid'l Adha this year is on August 21, adding that the actual date is contingent on the sighting of the moon of Dhul Hijjah, the twelfth and final month of the Islamic calendar which is very sacred as it marks the time of the hajj pilgrimage.

Incidentally, August 21 also marks Ninoy Aquino Day, a special non-working holiday.

Eid'l Adha is one of Islam's two greatest feasts along with Eid'l Fitr.

It is commemorated by Muslims to honor the biblical act of loyalty to Allah by Abraham, chronicled both in the bible and in the Quran to have nearly slaughtered his son — Ismael in the Quran — as an offering in a test of faith.

The Quranic narration of the story concluded with Archangel Gabriel preventing Abraham from slitting the throat of his son. Abraham instead sacrificed a ram that appeared from the wilderness.

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