BARMM residents commemorate Eid’l Adha

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  — Bad weather did not dampen the zeal of Muslims in central Mindanao to perform outdoor congregational prayers on Saturday morning in commemoration of the Eid’l Adha.

The Eid’l Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice, is a religious holiday in Islam, just as important as the Eid’l Fit’r, or the culmination of the month-long Ramadhan fasting season.

Eid’l Adha greetings from public officials reverberated through designated worship sites and in radio broadcasts in many parts of the Bangsamoro region on Saturday morning, while worshipers performed prayer rites related to the event.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza said local government units in her province, whose officials are mostly Christians, and their Muslim constituents together organized Eid’l Adha congregational prayers in selected sites.

“We are one with them on this occasion. Promotion of religious and cultural solidarity in our province is something we do to keep the peace we have here,” Mendoza told reporters.

North Cotabato is under Administrative Region 12 but the province has 63 barangays under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, whose security and socio-economic programs Mendoza supports extensively.

Provinces in central Mindanao were generally peaceful while Muslims were out on Saturday morning to pray in large groups.

The essence of Eid’l Adha is centered on the biblical story on how Abraham, Ibrahim in Arabic, was to offer as a sacrifice his son, Ishmael, in a test of faith that, according to the bible, ended with an angel’s replacement with a ram of the supposed sacrificial child for his having shown total subservience to God.

The Eid’l Adha also marks the culmination of the hajj season, or pilgrimage, to what is for Muslims the holy land of Makkah in Saudi Arabia.

Performing the hajj is one of the so-called “five pillars” of Islam, which includes belief in Allah, praying five times a day, fasting from dawn to dusk during the Ramadan and giving of alms to the poor.

In separate statements Saturday, Basilan Gov. Jim Salliman and his staunch political ally, Lamitan City Mayor Roderick Furigay, greeted their Muslim constituents “Eid Mubarak,” Arabic for blessed celebration.

In his message, Salliman, reelected to a third and last term during the May 9 elections, said his Eid’l Adha wish is the continuing support of local Muslim and Christian communities to the peace and security efforts of his office.

Furigay, who has jurisdiction over more than 40 barangays, urged his constituents to keep helping push forward Malacañang’s peace process with the southern Moro communities.

“Let our religions bind us together. All religions teach love for people regardless of races and faith. We must help one another maintain peace and calm in our barangays through interfaith dialogues,” Furigay said.

Basilan is a component-province of BARMM. The island province covers 11 towns and two cities, Lamitan and Isabela.