Eid prayers in new clothes, shaking hands and exchanging good wishes, children running up to adults to get their Eid money, and large, meat-filled feasts – all are scenes from across the region as <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/eid-al-adha/" target="_blank">Eid Al Adha</a> brings the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/2023/06/27/pilgrims-prepare-for-eid-al-adha-with-joy-over-the-return-of-pre-pandamic-hajj/" target="_blank">Hajj season</a> to a close. In <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/makkah/" target="_blank">Makkah</a>, almost two million pilgrims are performing their final rites, marking the end of their pilgrimage with the stoning of the devil ritual. Eid Al Adha marks Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to obey Allah's command to slaughter his son. But, after testing the prophet's loyalty, Allah told Ibrahim to slaughter a sheep instead. Mamadou Sow is spending his Eid barbecuing in his Kuwait home. "I went yesterday to the livestock market and picked a sheep. A nice Kuwaiti sheep." Mr Sow said the sheep was slaughtered after Eid prayers on Wednesday. "I picked up the meat and now we're making a barbecue. Friends from the African community are coming in to visit and say hello. "It's going really, really well." It was also a special Eid for Mr Sow's niece, who participated in the tradition for the first time. As is customary before Eid, people continued shopping for new clothes, fruit, sweets and gifts despite tension in <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/jerusalem/" target="_blank">Jerusalem</a> and the occupied West Bank. In Nablus, barber shops, tailors, shops selling fruit and nuts were packed as people ran last-minute errands on Tuesday night. "People are crossing Israeli check points from places like Ramallah and nearby villages to come visit family here. Most businesses are also closed, except for restaurants," said Luay Mazen, 41, who is visiting family later in the day. In Jenin, where an Israeli arrest operation turned deadly earlier this month, killing six people and wounding 91 others, residents are hopeful for a peaceful Eid. "I hope this Eid will be better than previous Eids. We hope the situation will stay calm, without martyrs, sadness, and illness. We hope that people will be happy. We hope that people will enjoy this Eid, and the merchants reduce prices so people can enjoy the Eid," Sukon Shaban told Reuters. Carpenter Ahmed Idrees, who makes wooden moulds for Eid date-filled sweets, known as maamoul, said: "When someone buys it, it adds to the holiday spirit. When we were young, we all have those memories of when we were little, we made Eid maamoul whether with our mothers or with our fathers." About 115km from Cairo, Noha Hassan and her family escaped the sweltering heat at their summer house in Ain Sokhna. "We're eating meat, we're swimming, and we're spending it with our cousins," she said. The family is quite large. "We are five people in my family and my uncle's is made up of seven members. We have beach houses in the same area so it's perfect." "We usually spend the night together watching a movie and eating snacks." In Pakistan wealthier families are opting to sacrifice a camel to feed larger families. Sellers at the Eid Al Adha camel market decorated camel hides in festive patterns using henna. More than 250 camels have been brought to the Islamabad market, along with thousands of bulls, cows, goats and sheep.
