The Sacrifice at the Festival

Qurbani (also udhiya) is the sacrifice of a permitted animal, a sheep, goat, cow or camel, offered at Eid al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice that falls during the pilgrimage season. It commemorates the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son at God's command and the ram provided in the son's place, an event the Quran recounts, and it is performed after the festival prayer on the appointed days.

The tradition directs that the meat be divided, with a share for the household, a share for relatives and friends, and a share for the poor, so that the sacrifice is also an act of charity that reaches the whole community. For pilgrims at Mecca the offering is part of the Hajj itself; for Muslims elsewhere it is a parallel observance marking the same festival. The Quran is explicit that what is sought is not the meat or blood but the piety of the one who offers, framing the rite as an act of devotion rather than of feeding God.