Qurban Ready

Early start as the prayers and Qurban would begin by about 8, and I had to go along with my father-in-law and uncles to the mosque and have a look at the cattle for Qurban later.

It seemed that all had been organised, in terms of cooks and other manpower. We didn't have to do much except to pay for their services.

It all started with the Raya PrayersPrayers done. Most of the folks went home to change.A quick discussion with my father-in-law before the ceremony begunTen cows - not all were ours - would be slaughtered later this morning. It was raining in the early hours but now the sun was out.

We were just done with the prayers and now waiting for the Imam to get things organised. Looked like the children on the kampung was already excited touting the cows. Good fun for them really.

The rounding up process beginThe children were told what to expect, so that there won't be any drama laterThe cows were then tied up and felledAnd the Qurban was doneFor the rest of my friends, colleagues and readers, Selamat Hari Raya Qurban.

More links on the trip here.

Qurban Tomorrow

I noticed that most of the Qurban animals for this year were a button the thin side.

When I was at the caterers, they had the cows lined up for tomorrow. They all looked underfed. Poor fella. At Bukit Antarabangsa, Qurban would take place tomorrow rather than today. Today being Friday, the fear was, the Qurban would not be completed in time before the Raya prayers. So, my parents, as always would be right busy tomorrow.

I would be racing through my ward round before joining them tomorrow. Hopefully the weather would be kind.

Aidil Adha

Wishing all my friends a Happy Aidil Adha and Happy Holidays.

We started the day at the surau for prayers. Our local surau has a couple of cows for the slaughter today, but the rest of the members would e traveling to Kuala Lipis for more slaughter at an Orang Asli kampung. There would be half a dozen cars traveling, but unfortunately, I would be at work that day.

The surau by my Mum's house had nine cows and both my Dad and brother-in-law would be on hand to help out. I went to Bukit Antarabangsa rather late, and by lunch, it was starting to rain.

My boys with their cousins at Grandma'sLunch was great. My Mum's cooking of course. Now waiting for the boys to settle down after spending the whole morning running up and down the stairs at their Grandma's place.

Qurban

Salleh with his QurbanSelamat Hari Raya Qurban. This year, Salleh, my brother-in-law bought a couple of portions of Qurban and was involved in the slaughter yesterday. It was held at my Mum's local surau at Bukit Antarabangsa. There were a total of 5 cows put down. The event started just after 9.30 in the morning after the Raya prayers. Salleh's cow was the first to be slaughter.

The crowd looking on

Qurban described the event when Allah decreed for Abraham (Ibrahim a.s.) to slaughter his favourite son Ishmael (Ismail a.s.) to test his and his wife, Hagar's (Siti Hajar) faith. During the slaughter (Qurban), Ishmael was replaced with a qibas (desert goat) and to commemorate the event, Qurban was performed yearly during the end of pilgrimage (Eidul Adha).

Volunteers being roped in.... and helping each other outThe morning was blessed with beautiful weather. Around 120 people turned up and the Qurban went on without a hitch. Everyone chipped in, the younger once watching in awe of the whole process, maybe for the first time. After the Qurban was done, everyone started cutting up the slaughters and preparing them into small portions for cooking. Some of the meat were given away as sedekah, while others were cooked in a broth to be distributed.

Each sacrifice are divided into 7 portions. As you can see, some of them were for Aqiqah.The young and the old joining forcesSpare ribs anyone?

My local masjid in Taman Melati will only be performing the Qurban today - it does not have to be done on the first day of Eidul Adha. They are offering courses for the younger generations to learn about the process and hopefully lead it in the future. I learned about it late. Maybe I will enroll in it next year.

I spent the rest of the Hari Raya at home with the kids. Not many of our relatives came this time around. Anita went shopping in the afternoon to prepare for our upcoming trip to Fraser's Hill. We then went back to Bukit Antarabangsa in the evening with the kids to have dinner with my Mum. The rest of the slideshow can be found here.