Thousands of Muslims in Kenya thronged mosques to celebrate this year’s Idd-ul-Adha special prayers which mark the climax of the Hajj or the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
In Mombasa(450 km from Nairobi), Chief Kadhi Sheikh Hammad Kassim led the faithful in prayers and asked Muslims to uphold unity and promote their general welfare especially during this period of religious festivities.
Sheikh Kassim was quoted by state owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation television as saying the Hajj demonstrates the universality of Islam, brotherhood and equality of its followers and asked Kenyan Muslims to reach out to one another and fellow Kenyans to promote peace, unity and harmony.
The cleric in his sermon at the Mombasa Municipal Stadium, asked Kenyans to shun tribalism and sectarian interests noting that such unchecked vices could lead to the collapse of nations like neighboring Somalia and the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
Idd is Idd-ul-Adha (the festival of sacrifice) falls on the tenth day of Dhul-Hijjah, the last month of the Muslim year, following the completion of the course of Hajj an extremely devotional course.
The climax of the Hajj is marked by offering a sacrifice to celebrate the end of the religious obligation.
Some scholars and Muslim leaders have differed with the decision to mark the holiday on Friday, opting for Saturday instead.
The Chief Kadhi, had said that the he had settled on Friday after wide consultation among Muslims clerics
Source African Press Agency
