President Arroyo yesterday urged Filipinos, regardless of religion, to unite and sacrifice for national progress as she joined the Muslim world in celebrating Eid’l Adha.

"I join the Muslim Ummah and the rest of our Muslim brothers in celebrating this year’s Eid’l Adha-Hariraya Hajj, the Feast of Sacrifice, which highlights the religious rituals observed for the annual hajj to Makkah AlMukkaramah in Saudi Arabia," the President said in her message through the Office on Muslim Affairs (OMA) headed by Sultan Yahya Tomawis, executive director.

Muslims believe Abraham (Ibrahim in Islam) obeyed God willingly and was about to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, for Him but God stayed his hand and replaced the latter with a sheep. The same story is in the Christian Bible except that the son involved in Isaac.

Director Metalicop Domado of OMA’s cultural bureau said Eid’l Adha is a regional holiday in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) by virtue of Republic Act. No. 9177 and considered a Muslim legal holiday through PD 1083 and Civil Service Commission Resolution No. 81-1277.

ARMM Gov. Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan greeted his constituents a happy Eid’l Adha, saying "as we celebrate this important day in Islam, our resolve to implement the necessary measures in the establishment of sustainable peace, human and economic development and progress in the region will further be bolstered even if this may require more and bigger sacrifices from us as what Prophet Ibrahim did."

In Maharlika Village in Taguig City, professor Taha Basman of the Philippines Islamic Council (PIC) said his group invited dignitaries and members of the media for an Eid’l Adha celebration at the Silangan Elementary School under principal Dr. Nena Monte Basman .

The Muslims and Christian leaders, composed of Sultan Kudarat Governor Datu Pax Mangudadatu, Rep. Annie Rosa L. Susano of Quezon City’s 2nd District, party-list Rep. Acmad M. Tomawis of Ang Laban ng Indiginong Filipino, Rep. Suharto Teng Mangudadatu of Sultan Kudarat, QC Council Majority Floor Leader Ariel Enrile Inton, and 1st Assistant Majority Floor Leader Dante M. De Guzman, banker Ali B. Sangki and former director Blu Umpar Adiong of the Bureau of Plant Industry, said today’s celebration could further cement the relations between Muslim and Christian Filipinos.

Today’s celebration could also pave the way for lasting and enduring unity between Muslim and Christian Flipinos, according to Susano.

Sangki, also the assistant secretary and deputy executive director of the Office on Muslim (OMA), said the Philippines’ 10 million Muslim join Islam’s 1.4-billion strong population in celebrating Eid’l Adha.

"The celebration of Eid’l Adha normally starts with early morning worship during which the imams (Muslim priests) narrate to and impress upon the faithful Abraham’s loyalty to God," Sangki said..

Domado, OMA caretaker, said the office will hold a simple and austere Hariraya Hajj celebration on tomorrow (Wednesday) at its central office in Quezon City.

Gov. Aleem Bashier Manalao of Lanao del Sur said:

"In commemoration of this day of sacrifice for all Muslims, may it represent a continuing expression of our faith as we come together in faith, hope, and love. May this day bring us closer together as a people in pursuit of peace, unity and harmony in the world.

"Let this day of sacrifice be a uniting force that will renew and strengthen our faith in Islam as we continue to make sacrifices for the betterment of our lives, our families, our society and the world.

"May all our sacrifices bear fruits of love and joy, hope and peace to all. Happy Eid’l Adha!" (with a report by Asa T. Madale)

Muslim pilgrims yearn for emotional high near Mecca

By SAM DAGHER

ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Over two million Muslim pilgrims started moving at sunrise Monday towards Mount Arafat to perform the central rite of hajj, the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca.

In the aftermath of the death of 76 people on Thursday in the collapse of an aging hostel in the heart of Mecca, a senior Saudi official said the kingdom has prepared itself to deal with major potential emergencies during the hajj including fires, stampedes, torrential rain, food poisoning, terror acts and even chemical attacks.

Although some pilgrims, especially Egyptians, had arrived in Arafat the day before, the great majority flocked from the valley of Mina, to the north, where they had spent the night huddled under tents or camped out on the streets with their mats and blankets.

Tracing a journey made by the Prophet Mohammed more than 1,400 years ago, pilgrims will gather Monday for an emotional assembly in Arafat, a small plain some 250 metres (800 feet) above sea level surrounded by mountains on all sides.

They will pray for mercy and forgiveness at the scene of the prophet’s last sermon and in a place where some believe Adam and Eve reunited after they were banished by God from paradise, according to the Bible.

The rite of wukuf, or standing, before sunset on Arafat is the high point of the hajj and without which it would be considered incomplete.

More than 1.55 million foreign pilgrims of 177 nationalities are taking part, up 1.2 percent from the previous pilgrimage, deputy interior minister Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef Bin Abdel Aziz said in a statement.

"This does not include Saudis, foreigners living in Saudi, and pilgrims coming on their own outside the tours," interior ministry spokesman Major General Mansur al-Turki said on Sunday, suggesting that an estimate of 2.5 million may be close.

He said the exact number would only be known on Tuesday when pilgrims begin flocking back to Mina to perform the hajj’s most dangerous ritual involving the stoning of three pillars symbolising Satan’s powers.

"This year we drafted a special plan to channel pilgrims to jamarat," said Turki using the the Arabic term for the pillars.