What Is Eid Al-Adha? History, Meaning & 2026 Date

What Is Eid Al-Adha?

Eid Al-Adha (عيد الأضحى), known in English as the Festival of Sacrifice or the Feast of the Sacrifice, is one of the two major Islamic festivals — the other being Eid Al-Fitr, which closes the month of Ramadan. It is observed by more than 2 billion Muslims across the world and is a public holiday in over 50 countries, from Morocco and Mauritania in the west to Indonesia and Brunei in the east.

The festival commemorates the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham in Judaism and Christianity) to sacrifice his son in obedience to God, a moment in which God ultimately substituted a ram in the son's place. Eid Al-Adha also coincides with the conclusion of the Hajj, the great annual pilgrimage to Mecca that draws around two million Muslims each year. Where Eid Al-Fitr is generally the lighter and sweeter of the two festivals, Eid Al-Adha is solemn, charitable, and centred on the act of sacrifice (qurbani) and the sharing of meat with family, neighbours, and the poor.

When Is Eid Al-Adha 2026?

Eid Al-Adha 2026 is expected to fall on or around Wednesday, 27 May 2026, with celebrations continuing into Thursday, 28 May 2026 in most countries. The exact date is subject to the official sighting of the new crescent moon of Dhu al-Hijjah. The Day of Arafat — the central rite of the Hajj and the day before Eid — is therefore expected on Tuesday, 26 May 2026.

Saudi Arabia, as the custodian of the two holy mosques and the host of the Hajj, almost always announces the date first. Most Muslim-majority nations follow the Saudi declaration within a day, although a small number of countries — notably Iran, Oman, and occasionally Indonesia — may observe Eid one day later if their own moon-sighting committees do not confirm the crescent on the same evening.

Why the Date Moves Each Year

Eid Al-Adha always falls on 10 Dhu al-Hijjah, the tenth day of the twelfth and final month of the Hijri (Islamic) calendar. The Hijri calendar is purely lunar: each month begins with the sighting of a new crescent moon and lasts 29 or 30 days, giving a year of roughly 354 days — about eleven days shorter than the 365-day Gregorian solar calendar.

Because the Islamic year is not adjusted with leap months to keep pace with the seasons, Eid Al-Adha drifts backwards through the Gregorian calendar by around eleven days each year. A festival observed in late May in 2026 will fall in mid-May in 2027, in early May in 2028, and in late April by 2029. Over a full 33-year cycle, Eid Al-Adha therefore passes through every season — from the heat of a Gulf summer to the cool of a North African winter — which has historically shaped how the festival's outdoor prayers, animal sacrifices, and family travel are organised.

How the Date Is Determined

The precise start of Eid Al-Adha depends on whether the new crescent moon of Dhu al-Hijjah is sighted on the evening of 29 Dhu al-Qa'dah, the previous month. Different countries follow different methodologies, which is why neighbouring states can announce Eid one day apart.

• Saudi Arabia: The Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia (Majlis al-Qada al-A'la) gathers reports from official moon-sighting witnesses across the kingdom and issues the announcement via the Saudi Press Agency. Because Saudi Arabia hosts the Hajj, its declaration carries unique weight — the Day of Arafat must be aligned with pilgrims standing on Mount Arafat.
• United Arab Emirates: The UAE Moon Sighting Committee, composed of religious scholars and astronomers, meets at the Ministry of Justice to confirm the sighting and align the holiday calendar with Saudi Arabia.
• Indonesia and Malaysia: A combination of physical sighting (rukyat) and astronomical calculation (hisab) is used. Indonesia's Ministry of Religious Affairs convenes an isbat session and sometimes declares Eid one day later than the Gulf.
• Turkey: The Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı (Presidency of Religious Affairs) sets the calendar in advance using astronomical calculation, so Turkish citizens know the date months ahead.
• Egypt, Jordan, and the Levant: Each country has its own committee — Egypt's Dar al-Ifta issues the formal declaration there — but most align with the Saudi announcement to keep regional travel and family schedules consistent.

For Muslims living in Western countries — the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the United States — the date is typically taken from a local mosque federation or directly from the Saudi announcement.

The Story of Ibrahim

The festival's spiritual core is one of the most resonant narratives shared across the three Abrahamic faiths. According to the Quran, Surah As-Saffat (37:102–107), God commanded Ibrahim in a dream to sacrifice his son. In Islamic tradition the son is Ismail (Ishmael), the elder son born to Hagar, whereas the Hebrew Bible names Isaac (Ishaq). Ibrahim, after consulting Ismail and finding him equally willing to submit, prepared to fulfil the command.

The Quranic account places the trial at the valley of Mina, near Mecca, while Jewish and Christian tradition locates the binding (Aqedah) at Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. As Ibrahim laid his son down, a divine voice halted him, and God provided a ram to be slaughtered in Ismail's place. The verse declares: "Indeed, this was the clear trial."

Theologically, the story is read as the ultimate test of submission — the very meaning of the word Islam. Ibrahim's readiness to surrender what was most precious to him, and Ismail's calm acceptance, model the relationship between the believer and the divine. The sites associated with the narrative are physically embedded in the rituals of the Hajj: pilgrims walk between Safa and Marwa in remembrance of Hagar's search for water for Ismail, drink from the Zamzam well said to have sprung at Ismail's feet, and stone three pillars at Mina representing the devil who tried to dissuade Ibrahim. The annual qurbani — performed on Eid Al-Adha by hundreds of millions of Muslim households — re-enacts the moment in which the ram replaced the son.

The Five Days of Hajj

Eid Al-Adha cannot be understood apart from the Hajj, the pilgrimage that is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and an obligation upon every Muslim who is physically and financially able. The Hajj unfolds over five days, and Eid begins on the third.

• 8 Dhu al-Hijjah — Yawm al-Tarwiyah: The "Day of Quenching." Pilgrims dressed in the white ihram travel from Mecca to Mina, where they spend the night in vast tented camps in prayer and reflection.
• 9 Dhu al-Hijjah — Yawm Arafah: The Day of Arafat, the central rite of the Hajj. Pilgrims gather on the plain of Arafat, standing in prayer from noon until sunset at the spot where the Prophet Muhammad delivered his Farewell Sermon. Muslims worldwide who are not on Hajj are encouraged to fast on this day, considered the holiest of the Islamic year.
• 10 Dhu al-Hijjah — Eid Al-Adha: Pilgrims perform the first stoning of the Jamarat pillars at Mina, complete the qurbani sacrifice, and shave or cut their hair (halq or taqsir). The global festival begins.
• 11–12 Dhu al-Hijjah — Ayyam al-Tashriq: The "Days of Drying" continue with further stoning of the Jamarat. Pilgrims who wish to leave perform the Tawaf al-Wada (farewell circumambulation) of the Kaaba.

Around two million pilgrims travel to Saudi Arabia each year for the Hajj, and the Saudi government coordinates entry visas, transport, sanitation, and emergency services on a scale matched by few other annual events worldwide.

How Eid Al-Adha Is Celebrated

Eid Prayer

The day begins before sunrise. Worshippers perform a full ritual washing (ghusl), dress in their best or new clothes, and gather for Salat al-Eid, a special two-rakat congregational prayer held shortly after sunrise. In larger cities the prayer takes place in open-air grounds (musalla) or stadiums to accommodate the crowds. The prayer is followed by a sermon (khutba) recalling the story of Ibrahim and the duties of charity and family.

Qurbani — The Sacrifice

After the prayer, families that are financially able perform the qurbani: the ritual slaughter of a sheep, goat, cow, or camel. The animal must meet specific conditions of age and health, and the act is preceded by the invocation "Bismillah, Allahu Akbar". The meat is then divided into three equal portions: one-third for the household, one-third for relatives and neighbours, and one-third for the poor and those in need. This division turns Eid Al-Adha into one of the largest organised acts of meat charity in the world.

In many countries the slaughter is now carried out by professional licensed butchers or — increasingly — through international charities such as Islamic Relief, Muslim Hands, and Penny Appeal, which take qurbani donations from Muslims in wealthy countries and distribute the meat in places facing food insecurity, including Yemen, Somalia, Bangladesh, and parts of sub-Saharan Africa. For many recipient communities, Eid Al-Adha is one of the few occasions in the year when fresh meat is available.

Family Visits and Charitable Giving

Beyond the sacrifice, Eid is a time for extended family gatherings. Children traditionally receive Eidi — small money gifts from older relatives, often in crisp new banknotes. Visits are paid in turn, typically beginning with the eldest members of the family, and many families also visit the graves of loved ones. The general charity (Zakat) and additional voluntary giving (sadaqah) are encouraged throughout the holiday.

Greeting Customs

The most common greeting is "Eid Mubarak" (Blessed Eid), exchanged universally across the Muslim world. In the Arab world the longer formal greeting is "Kul am wa antum bi-khair" — "May every year find you in good health." Turkish speakers say "Bayramınız kutlu olsun"; in South Asia "Eid Mubarak" is often paired with an embrace exchanged three times.

Eid Al-Adha Foods Around the World

The qurbani sacrifice means that meat sits at the centre of nearly every regional Eid Al-Adha menu, but the dishes vary widely by tradition.

In the Gulf states, the table typically features kabsa (spiced rice with lamb or goat), harees (a slow-cooked wheat and meat porridge), saleeg (white rice cooked in meat broth) and tharid (a layered bread-and-stew dish associated with the Prophet). Across the Levant, Jordan's national dish mansaf — lamb cooked in fermented yoghurt and served on rice with flatbread — is the centrepiece of family lunches, while Egyptians prepare fattah, a layered dish of rice, bread, and meat in garlic-and-vinegar sauce, and Lebanon and Syria contribute various forms of kibbeh.

Turkey marks Kurban Bayramı with kavurma (cubed meat fried in its own fat and preserved for later in the year), etli pilav (meat-topped rice), and the rich paça çorbası, a soup made from sheep's trotters. Sweets such as baklava round out the day. In South Asia, families serve biryani, mutton korma, haleem, and paya nihari (slow-cooked trotters), and the sweet vermicelli pudding sheer khurma — shared with Eid Al-Fitr — is offered to visitors.

Across North Africa, Moroccan households prepare couscous with seven vegetables, mechoui (whole roasted lamb), and mrouzia (a sweet-savoury lamb tagine with honey and almonds), while Algerian families serve chorba, a hearty meat-and-vegetable soup. In West Africa, Nigeria's Sallah celebrations bring jollof rice, suya (spiced grilled skewers), and puff-puff. In Indonesia and Malaysia — where Eid Al-Fitr is the larger festival — the day is still marked with rendang, ketupat rice cakes, and opor ayam (chicken in coconut sauce).

Public Holiday Duration by Country

Public holiday lengths vary considerably between countries and between the public and private sectors. Saudi Arabia traditionally grants the longest break, often combined with the surrounding weekend.

Eid Al-Adha vs Eid Al-Fitr

The two Eids are often confused by those outside the Muslim world, but they mark distinct occasions, fall about two months apart, and carry different ritual emphases.

Colloquially, Eid Al-Fitr is sometimes called the "Sweet Eid" for its abundance of pastries and confectionery, while Eid Al-Adha is the "Greater Eid" or "Salty Eid" for the prevalence of meat. Both sit at the heart of the Islamic year, and both are protected as public holidays in most Muslim-majority states.

---

Key Facts

Sources

1. Saudi Press Agency, official Saudi state news service — https://www.spa.gov.sa/
2. UAE Ministry of Justice — https://www.moj.gov.ae/
3. Indonesia Ministry of Religious Affairs — https://kemenag.go.id/
4. Turkey Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) — https://www.diyanet.gov.tr/
5. Egypt Dar al-Ifta — https://www.dar-alifta.org/