Eid Mubarak!

Eid Mubarak (عيد مبارك)!

"Eid means "Feast" and refers to the occasion itself, and Mubarak means "Blessed." Eid Mubarak is the celebratory greeting that you give people on this holiday. its am extremely important holiday in the Muslim world.

In Jordan, approximately 90-95% of the population is Sunni Muslim. Today is the official day of the festivities of Eid al-Adha — or "festival of sacrifice" — for Muslims around the world. The holiday commemorates the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim — or Abraham, as he is known in the Bible — to sacrifice his son in accordance with God's will, though in the end God provides him a sheep to sacrifice instead.

Muslim communities across the Arab world, Asia and Africa, Europe and the U.S. marked the holiday Tuesday. The faithful slaughtered sheep, cattle and other livestock. They give part of the meat to the poor and usually tuck into a lavish family dinner with the rest. The holiday, lasting three or four days, is an occasion for family celebrations and outings, with parents often buying new clothes for their children.

The pictures above are of one of the Mosque's I passed this evening when I was walking home from my friend Amanda's house. The nightly prayers were being broadcasted loudly as usual from the glowing green pillars with speakers that can be heard for miles and miles.

People have been celebrating all day. I have seen families greeting each other in the streets, fireworks, and many gunshots through the night. Its not uncommon to hear gun shots around, but many are going off tonight. Its a celebratory thing. As my professor Salam explained it to my class a few weeks ago when gun shots were going off through the night because the Jordan soccer team won a game she said....

"Ah, they shoot guns. they shoot guns when they are happy, they shoot guns when they are sad, they shoot guns when they are angry and then shoot guns when they are bored. They just shoot guns! What can we do?! Its dumb....but they just shoot."