Millions of Muslims in Iran and around the world are celebrating Eid al-Adha, one of the most significant holidays in the Islamic calendar, marked by prayer, charity, and the tradition of sacrifice.
The occasion is being observed with congregational Eid prayers, the ritual sacrifice of livestock, and the charitable distribution of meat to those in need.
Eid al-Adha falls on the 10th day of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah on the lunar Islamic calendar every year.
The festival commemorates Prophet Abraham’s devotion to God, shown through his willingness to sacrifice his son, Prophet Ishmael. In recognition of his faith, God intervened and provided a ram to be sacrificed instead.
Eid al-Adha also marks the culmination of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, which involves key rituals including circumambulating the holy Ka’aba, walking between the hills of Safa and Marwa, standing on the plain of Arafat, and the symbolic stoning of the devil in the Mina valley.
Hajj is one of Islam’s five pillars and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime.
This year 1,673,230 people performed Hajj, including 1,506,576 foreign pilgrims and 166,654 Saudi nationals, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics.
Multiple stampedes have occurred during the annual Hajj pilgrimage over the years, with the deadliest incident occurring in 2015 in Mina, where up to 2,300 worshipers lost their lives.
In 2024, over 1,300 pilgrims died as temperatures soared to 51.8 degrees Celsius during the Hajj pilgrimage.
This year, Saudi authorities used Artificial Intelligence, drones and cameras to spot abnormal crowd movements and predict bottlenecks in foot traffic.
The kingdom further planted thousands of trees and installed hundreds of cooling units to help alleviate the rising temperatures.
