By KUNA,
Brussels : Muslims in Belgium thronged to mosques Monday morning to offer Eid al-Adha prayers. One of the biggest congregations was held in the Islamic Centre in Brussels, close to the EU headquarters, where the khateeb (preacher) in his sermon underlined that Islam is essentially a religion of peace and that a Muslim is a person who does not harm any creature unjustly.
He noted the continued suffering of peoples in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan and condemned the double standards being applied today regarding human rights issues.
The khateeb claimed that the prevalent system of riba (bank interest) is the root cause for the global economic and financial crisis.
An estaimted 450,000 Muslims, mainly from Morocco and Turkey, live in Belgium which has a population of about 10 million.
Eid al-Adha or the Festival of Sacrifice that falls at the end of the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Makkah is celebrated by Muslims worldwide in commemoration of the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God .
As Prophet Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son, God Almighty replaced the son with a lamb as the sacrifice.
Muslims, who have the means to, sacrifice an animal ( a goat, sheep, cow or camel ) as a reminder of Ibrahim’s obedience to God.
According to local media reports, Belgium is threatened with a shortage of sheep for the Eid ul-Adha due to the bluetongue virus currently rampant in the Netherlands and Germany. Many Belgian farmers have sheep, meant for Eid ul-Adha, stranded in Germany and the Netherlands.
Because of the bluetongue virus in Belgium and Germany, no animals may currently be transported within a radius of 50 km of the contaminated area.