Resources >Engaging Muslims> Engaging as individuals > My Muslim friends at Eid al Adha

Eid al-Adha - the festival commemorates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son. It is a wonderful opportunity to talk to our friends about the Lamb provided as a sacrifice.

Here are some thoughts and ideas for engaging with Muslims during Eid.

A story from ‘Calling on the Prophets in Christian Witness’

Mahmood and I were sipping tea in my house in N’Djaména, Chad. It was a few days before the great eid, when Muslims all around the world commemorate Abraham’s sacrifice of a sheep in place of his son.

 “Tell me,” I said, “Why is Abraham’s sacrifice such a great cause of celebration for you?”

“Celebration?” he responded. “For some maybe, but I don’t have the money to buy a sheep. No celebration for me and my kids.”

 “I am sorry to hear that,” I said. “But I am asking what the eid is about. Why should people celebrate the event? What is so good about it?”

 “Well, you know,” he shrugged. “The prophet Abraham and Ishmael his son. He was going to sacrifice him and then sacrificed a sheep instead.”

 “Yes,” I said. “But what makes it such a major celebration?”

 “We eat well,” he replied. “People are happy because they get a good meal.”

 “I think it is very odd,” I replied, “that Muslims everywhere celebrate it and make it such a big thing, yet they don’t know the full meaning of what happened that day. We Christians have more reason to celebrate it than you do, and yet we don’t.”

 “How do you mean?”

 “When God brought Abraham to that place to offer his son, God provided the ram, didn’t he? And then God caused it to be remembered in this way all around the world. He did this because it was going to help people understand what he was planning to do for us later. He actually said to Abraham after he sacrificed the ram, ‘Because you have done this, all nations on earth will be blessed through your offspring.’ So it concerns everyone. What is the blessing God wanted to bring?”

 Mahmood shrugged.

 “The ram died in the place of the son of Abraham. Later, God sent Jesus Christ from the offspring of Abraham to become a sacrifice for the benefit of all people everywhere. He paid for our sins so that we might have the blessing God promised to Abraham. Now that is a reason to celebrate!”

From Calling on the Prophets in Christian Witness to Muslims by Colin Bearup, William Carey Publishers. Click here for details

Read Miriam’s blog, Sharing Stories at Eid ul Adha, here

A video to share with friends - The Prophets' Story takes us on a journey through the lives of several of the prophets and highlights their common message of sacrifice, culminating with Jesus. Click here for the video in English, here for Arabic, here for Urdu and other languages

Eid as opportunity? Click here.

Two tracts for Muslim people by E M Hicham: ‘Why did the Prophet Abraham offer a Lamb in the place of his son’ and ‘Why did God command sacrifices?’ Available here and here