June 30, 2023
By Samina Sohail, MD
Cincinnati, Ohio — Regionally, approximately 30,000 Muslims gathered across the Tristate to celebrate the annual Eid-ul-Adha holiday this past
week.
Eid ul Adha is a religious holiday which coincides with the annual Hajj pilgrimage, whereby Muslims all over the world perform one of Islam’s five pillars of faith. This year around 2.5 million Muslims gathered in Mecca, Saudi Arabia for the Hajj.
Eid ul Adha also memorializes Prophet Abraham’s exemplary demonstration of obedience to God by his willingness to sacrifice his son following God’s command. God subsequently replaced Abraham’s son with a sheep for the sacrifice. Muslims globally commemorate this devotion to God with the sacrifice of sheep, cows, or goats. A portion of this meat is then distributed to the poor. As such, this holiday exemplifies 
mercy, obedience, sacrifice, and service to others.
Eid ul Adha is one of the two holiest celebrations for Muslims. The other is Eid ul Fitr which occurs at the conclusion of the month of fasting, Ramadan.
On the morning of Wednesday, June 28, 2023, the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati hosted about 5,000 Muslim Americans for congregational prayers. Muslims from diverse backgrounds gathered to pray, hear a sermon with words of inspiration, and 
share tasty snacks. The morning was marked by a colorful array of diverse ethnic attire, warm greetings, hugs, and joy. Since most Muslims are able to take the day off on Eid, the rest of the day is spent gathering with friends and families, gift exchanges, and scrumptious feasts of biryani, kabobs, koshary, kabsa, sambosas, grilled meats, burgers, along with treats such as baklava, kanafeh, sheer korma, halwa, donuts, pastries and more.
Locally Muslims also left their celebratory footprint throughout the city with their presence at local cafes, restaurants, Graeter’s, and even King’s Island.