ASTANA – Muslims worldwide will mark the Qurban Ait (Eid al-Adha) Islamic holiday June 28-30 this year.
Astana Grand Mosque. Photo credit: Aidos Ukibay/Twitter.
On holiday, mostly associated with sacrificing an animal, Muslims gather in mosques in the early morning and begin a common prayer, Ait Namaz. Then they make their sacrifices, congratulate each other, and treat relatives and friends.
The Kazakh citizens can perform the rite of sacrifice offline and online, an option that became available durian the pandemic. According to Kazakhstan’s Spiritual Administration of Muslims, the qurban2023.kz website has been launched to conduct the ritual remotely.
To do this, one needs to select a sacrificial animal online and transfer money to the specified account. Prices range between 70,000–80,000 tenge ($155–$177) for a young lamb to 400,000–450,000 ($888–999) for cattle. One person can order sheep and goats, whereas one or seven can order cattle and camels.
The time for the sacrifice begins after the Qurban Ait prayer on the first day and continues shortly before the evening prayer of the holiday’s third day.
“The holy Eid al-Adha is a great holiday that brings us closer to Almighty Allah and shows the well-being and unity of the Muslim Ummah (community),” said Batyrzhan Mansurov, head of the administration’s preaching department.
At a briefing at the Central Communication Services, Kenzhetai Duisenbay, advisor to the head of the spiritual administration, stated that Muslims worldwide perform the Hajj in Mecca, including 4,000 Kazakh citizens.
