Eid al-Adha – Lucy*

Today, June 29th, Muslims in my country and all over the world will celebrate Eid al-Adha, or as they simply call it here “the big Eid (holiday)”.Muslims know and believe the story of Abraham from the Old Testament—with one really BIG, really important difference. They believe that Allah told Abraham to go sacrifice his son Ishmael and this holiday celebrates Allah saving Ishmael by providing a sacrifice. Eid al-Adha also marks the end of the annual Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca, which is one of the five pillars of Islam.

In preparation for this day, each family is required to purchase a sheep, and today, they will slaughter it and celebrate together as a family. In many places across my country the streets will run red. Even now as I’m writing this I can hear my neighbor’s sheep bleating. Its days are numbered and they are few.

Muslims understand sacrifice probably better than most Americans, but their eyes are blinded to the Truth. God didn’t preserve Ishmael’s life that day. He saved Isaac for His glory and the sake of Jesus’s earthly lineage. And all of the blood that is spilled on Thursday can’t forgive sins or save souls. The blood of one Lamb did that once and for all for all of us.

Please pray this week for my Muslim friends here and around the world that their eyes would be opened to the truth and they would come to know the Lamb of God as their Lord and Savior.

*Name changed for security