This most important feast of the Muslim calendar is the concluding rite of those performing the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca. For those not on pilgrimage, Eid al-Adha is a three-day festival celebrating Ibrahim’s (Abraham‘s) willingness to obey Allah by killing his son, believed by Muslims to be Ishmael, and not Isaac as written in the Old Testament. Muslims consider Ishmael to be the forefather of the Arabs. Many Muslim families reenact this show of faith by sacrificing a cow, a ram, or a lamb on this day, using a portion of it for the family feast and donating one- or two-thirds to the poor. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary