[USA TODAY]What it is and how it will be celebrated amid COVID-19

Muslims around the globe this week will celebrate Eid al-Adha in the age of social distancing. 

Eid al-Adha is Arabic for “festival of sacrifice” and is the second of two major Muslim holidays (the other being Eid al-Fitr). It is the holiday that marks the end of the hajj season, or pilgrimage season, said Omid Safi, professor of Islamic studies at Duke University.   

Eid al-Adha is – under usual circumstances – a joyous holiday and an opportunity for Muslim families and communities to gather for prayers and feasts.

Eid is a three-day celebration in Muslim-majority countries. In the United States, most observe just one day.

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During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 16 million people worldwide, celebrations might look a bit different. 

Here’s what to know about Eid al-Adha: 

The meaning of ‘al-Adha’

“Al-Adha” refers to sacrifice, specifically the “one in which Abraham was asked – as a test – by God to sacrifice his son, only to have God intervene and substitute a ram (or lamb) instead,” Safi said. 

The sacrifice as depicted in the Quran (the Islamic holy text) has similarities to what’s in the Bible, though in the Quran, Abraham is asked by God to sacrifice his son Ishmael, not Isaac.

In present-day, animals, typically goats, lambs or cows, are still sacrificed to mark the occasion. The meat from the animals sacrificed is shared with the community and food banks areas where there are impoverished or food-insecure Muslims, said Anna Bigelow, associate professor of religious studies at Stanford University.

Safi said for many poor Muslims, Eid al-Adha marks an occasion where they receive meat. 

He added, “Since the notion of sacrifice initially referred to sacrificing that which is precious (thus the test of offering one’s child to God), there is a longstanding Muslim tradition of taking the sacrifice at the symbolic level, implying that the real sacrifice is not the killing of an animal, but rather sacrificing one’s own egoistical desires.”