Also known as: Id al-Adha · Festival of Sacrifice · Arafa
Eid al-Adha — known throughout Ethiopia as Arefa (አረፋ) — is the festival of sacrifice, commemorating the Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God, and God's provision of a ram in the son's place. It falls on the tenth day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the final month of the Islamic year, at the culmination of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca — and it is a full national public holiday in Ethiopia.
Why Ethiopians call it Arefa
The Ethiopian name comes from the Day of Arafah — the ninth of Dhu al-Hijjah, when the Hajj pilgrims stand together in prayer on the plain of Arafat outside Mecca, the spiritual summit of the pilgrimage. The feast follows the next day, and in Ethiopian usage the name of the vigil attached itself to the holiday: Arefa. Many Ethiopian Muslims keep the day of Arafah itself as a fast, following the Prophet's tradition, and greet the feast that ends it.
The sacrifice and the three shares
The day opens with the Eid prayer in open grounds, as at Eid al-Fitr. Then comes the qurbani — the sacrifice of a sheep, goat or ox by households that can afford it, in remembrance of the ram provided to Ibrahim. The meat is divided by tradition into three parts: one for the household, one for relatives, friends and neighbors, and one for the poor — so the feast is an engine of charity as much as a celebration, and in the days around Arefa meat reaches tables that rarely see it.
The livestock markets of Ethiopia's towns run at full tilt in the week before Arefa, as families buy the sacrificial animal — a rhythm familiar from the Christian feasts of Fasika and Genna, another of the many symmetries between the two calendars that share Ethiopia's year.
Why the date moves
Like all Islamic observances, Arefa follows the lunar Hijri calendar and arrives about eleven days earlier each solar year, cycling through all seasons over about thirty-three years. The date given on this site is computed by the standard tabular method and marked ±1 day, since actual observance follows the moon sighting announced for Dhu al-Hijjah.
Frequently asked questions
- When is Eid al-Adha in 2027?
- Monday, May 17, 2027 (±1 day, confirmed by moon sighting) — Ginbot 9, 2019 in the Ethiopian calendar.
- Why is Eid al-Adha called Arefa in Ethiopia?
- From the Day of Arafah — the pinnacle of the Hajj pilgrimage on the ninth of Dhu al-Hijjah, the day before the feast. In Ethiopian usage the vigil's name attached to the holiday itself.
- What does Eid al-Adha commemorate?
- The Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God, and God's provision of a ram in the son's place — remembered through the qurbani sacrifice.
- What is the qurbani?
- The sacrifice of a sheep, goat or ox by households that can afford it. The meat is traditionally divided in three: for the family, for relatives and friends, and for the poor.
- Is Arefa a public holiday in Ethiopia?
- Yes — a full national public holiday, observed with mass prayers, the sacrifice, and family feasting.