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C O N S U M I N G  E I D  A L - A D H A : 
C O N S T R U C T I N G  A N D 
E X P R E S S I N G  T H E  M U S L I M 
I D E N T I T Y 
A m a r  A h m e d
Introduction
The events of 9/11 led the Western public and academic interest in 
Muslims and their identity to grow especially in the United States. In 
Europe, the academic discourse increased following the so-called Mus-
lim mass migration of 2015 and onwards. However, much of the lit-
erature – particularly the ethnographic – examines the community as 
a minority in the West from the contexts of discrimination,1 especially 
against women wearing headscarves,2 and the issue of Muslim integra-
tion and/or assimilation3. Even those who have conducted ethnograph-
ic research, whether in the MENA4 region or in the West, tend to have 
orientalist, colonialist, and/or essentialist perspectives5.
In this paper, a) I argue that there is a lacuna in the ethnographic 
research of Muslims and how they construct their identity in various 
sociocultural contexts that, consequently, will b) show particularism 
1  Karen J. Aroian, “Discrimination against Muslim American adolescents,” The Journal of 
School Nursing 28, no. 3 (2012): 206, https://doi.org/10.1177/1059840511432316.206. 
2  Rebecca S. Robinson, “Hijab in the American workplace: Visibility and discrimination,” 
Culture and religion 17, no. 3 (2016): 332, https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2016.1211543. 
3  Pippa Norris and Ronald F. Inglehart, “Muslim integration into Western cultures: Between 
origins and destinations,” Political Studies 60, no. 2 (2012): 228, https://doi.org/10.1111/
j.1467-9248.2012.00951.x. 
4  Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
5  Gabriele Marranci, The anthropology of Islam (London: Berg, 2008), 31–52.
https://doi.org/10.35469/poligrafi.2020.228 Poligrafi, no. 99/100, vol. 25, 2020, pp. 117–143
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among them. c) I write to contribute to this body of knowledge through 
analysing the meanings that Muslims associate with Eid Al-Adha which 
leads to their identity construction and expression through celebrating 
and consuming the holiday. d) I discuss the rituals surrounding the hol-
iday which would reveal some of the significant values of the celebrators 
who would be under the umbrella of the Islamic culture; though the 
possibility of non-Muslims celebrating the holiday with their Muslim 
friends must be acknowledged – which ethnographic accounts could 
reveal – I concentrate on Muslims’ celebrations in this article. Eid Al-
Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice is one of two Islamic holidays – the other 
being Eid Al-Fitr – which is celebrated each year among the Muslim 
communities, and it is widely considered to be the holier of the two.6
Visible ethnographic literature investigating religious and cultural 
holidays mainly revolve around Western holidays such as Thanksgiving7, 
Easter8, and Christmas9. Islamic holidays – especially Eid Al-Adha – have 
not received the same scholarly attention, especially the research that 
would fit under the Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) that offers a 
framework and bridges the gap between consumption behaviour and 
cultural meanings.10
In the context of this paper, using the term “consuming” does not 
refer to the traditional commercial meaning since one may consume 
an idea, an experience, a culture, and/or even a religion. For example, 
feasting with family during Eid Al-Adha is not simply about eating or 
6  Ziasma Haneef Khan, P. J. Watson, and Zhuo Chen, “Meanings of animal sacrifice 
during Eid-ul-Adha: Relationships with religious orientations and Muslim experiential reli-
giousness in Pakistan,” Archive for the Psychology of Religion 37, no. 1 (2015): 37, https://doi.
org/10.1163/15736121-12341299.
7  Melanie Wallendorf and Eric J. Arnould, “‘We gather together’: consumption ritu-
als of Thanksgiving Day,” Journal of consumer research 18, no. 1 (1991): 13–31, https://doi.
org/10.1086/209237.
8  Theodore Caplow and Margaret Holmes Williamson, “Decoding Middletown’s Easter 
bunny: a study in American iconography,” Semiotica 32, no. 3/4 (1980): 221–232, http://
citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.535.6958&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
9  Elizabeth C. Hirschman and Priscilla A. LaBarbera, “The meaning of Christmas,” in SV - 
Interpretive Consumer Research, edited by Elizabeth C. Hirschman (Provo, UT: Association for 
Consumer Research, 1989), 136–147.
10  Eric J. Arnould and Craig J. Thompson, “Consumer culture theory (CCT): Twen-
ty years of research,” Journal of consumer research 31, no. 4 (2005): 868–882, https://doi.
org/10.1086/426626.
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drinking, rather it is about consuming a social setting. Through this so-
cial setting, Muslims express the importance of family and the value of 
collectivism as parts of their identity. These are the meanings associated 
with consuming the feast.
“Identity” may be defined as the idea an individual has about one-
self, characteristics properties, body, and values, while “image” is the 
way others view and judge an individual.11 Individualists define the 
term as to what a person owns or experiences; while collectivists define 
it through relationships, group memberships, and fulfilment of expec-
tations. Nevertheless, religion plays a significant role in shaping people’s 
identity and behaviour.
When researching for ethnographic or sociological literature re-
garding the consumption of Eid Al-Adha, much of it came via news-
paper articles and online blogs. That is not to deny the existence of 
studies in books and academic journals. Much of the academic re-
search – especially in English – regarding Islamic holidays study Eid 
Al-Fitr, since it follows a month of fasting during Ramadhan.12 Most 
academic papers concentrate on the sacrifice and the health-related 
issues such as viruses13 and nutrition14, and the meaning of the sac-
rifice15. Moreover, much of the academic debate revolves around the 
religious and historic aspects of the holiday and the story behind it.16 
The more recent discourse focuses on animal rights and the ecology 
surrounding the sacrifice, since millions of animals are slaughtered 
11  Marieke De Mooij, Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global marketing and 
advertising (London: SAGE Publications Limited, 2019), 153–156.
12  Xiaochun Yang, “The festival of fast-breaking Eid al-Fitr in the Great Mosque of Lhasa. 
Some observations,” Études mongoles et sibériennes, centrasiatiques et tibétaines 47 (2016): 1–26, 
https://doi.org/10.4000/emscat.2867.
13  Antoine Nougairede, Christelle Fossati, Nicolas Salez, Stephan Cohen-Bacrie, Laetitia Ni-
nove, Fabrice Michel, Samer Aboukais et al., “Sheep-to-human transmission of Orf virus dur-
ing Eid al-Adha religious practices, France,” Emerging infectious diseases 19, no. 1 (2013): 102, 
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1901.120421.
14  M. M. Farouk, J. M. Regenstein, M. R. Pirie, R. Najm, A. E. D. Bekhit, and S. O. 
Knowles, “Spiritual aspects of meat and nutritional security: Perspectives and responsibilities 
of the Abrahamic faiths,” Food Research International 76, no. 4 (2015): 882–895, https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.foodres.2015.05.028.
15  Khan, Watson, and Chen, “Meanings of Animal Sacrifice,” 37–53.
16  Asma Barlas, “Abraham's sacrifice in the Qur'an: beyond the body,” Scripta Instituti Don-
neriani Aboensis 23 (2011): 55–71, https://doi.org/10.30674/scripta.67380.
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during that day each year.17 Sociologically, scholars investigate the 
challenges that Muslims face when celebrating in the West, such as in 
Canada18 and France.19 
Torlak et al.20 looks into the unique experiences of Turkish con-
sumers to formulate the consumption ritual experiences and dis-
course of Eid Al-Adha, and Van de Bruinhorst’s21 dissertation discuss-
ing the holiday using the example of Tanga in Tanzania are the most 
relevant ethnographic studies that I found. Ljamai22 concentrates on 
the sacrifice aspect of the holiday, similar to the majority of academic 
works that investigate Eid Al-Adha. This is understandable due to the 
richness of meanings constructed during the ritual. In this paper, not 
only will I analyse the sacrifice, but also other consumption rituals 
within the celebrations. It is important to note that each experience 
is unique due to the different sociocultural contexts that Eid Al-Adha 
is celebrated within and, therefore, one should not generalise or es-
sentialise findings.  
All in all, Eid Al-Adha has not received the deserved ethnographic 
attention that describes how its participants construct meanings as 
much as other prominent holidays have and do, such as Christmas, 
Easter, and/or even Eid Al-Fitr. 
17  Wendy Doniger, “Afterword: Cruelty and the Imagination of Animals in India,” Compara-
tive Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 35, no. 2 (2015): 277–280, https://doi.
org/10.1215/1089201x-3139048.
18  Amir Hussain, “Muslims in Canada: Opportunities and challenges,” Studies in Religion/Sci-
ences Religieuses 33, no. 3-4 (2004): 359–379, https://doi.org/10.1177/000842980403300305.
19  Anne-Marie Brisebarre, “The evolution of sacrificial practices for Eid al-Adha in urban 
France,” Ethnologie francaise 168, no. 4 (2017): 607–622.
20  Ömer Torlak, Müjdat Özmen, Muhammet Ali Tiltay, Mahmut Sami İşlek, and Ufuk Ay, 
“Ritual as assemblage: feast of sacrifice experiences of Turkish consumers,” Journal of Islamic 
Marketing 10, no. 2 (2019): 476–494, https://doi.org/10.1108/JIMA-05-2018-0091.
21  Gerard C. Van de Bruinhorst, “Raise Your Voices and Kill Your Animals”: Islamic Discourses 
on the Idd el-Hajj and Sacrifices in Tanga (Tanzania) (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 
2007), 29–440.
22  Abdelilah Ljamai, “Sacrifice and Islamic Identity,” in Sacrifice in Modernity: Community, 
Ritual, Identity, ed. Joachim Duyndam, Anna-Marie J.A.C.M. Korte, and Marcel Poorthuis 
(Leiden: Brill, 2020), 221–229, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004335530_014.
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Background
Eid Al-Adha falls on the tenth day of Dhu Al-Hijjah, which is the 
twelfth month of the Islamic Calendar. In Islamic tradition, the back-
ground of Eid Al-Adha stems from the story of the Prophet Ebrahim 
(Abraham). One of the key trials of his life was God commanding 
him to sacrifice his son. It was on mount Arafah where the son was 
about to be sacrificed by his father to submit to the will of God. That 
is when the prophet Ebrahim was sent an animal to sacrifice instead 
to signify that he had passed the test and his sacrifice had already been 
accepted; hence, the name of the holiday and the ritual of the slaugh-
tering and sacrificing of an animal which is usually a sheep. Prior to 
the act, the Devil had attempted to sway Ebrahim and his family 
away from actualising the commandment of God; however, the father 
threw pebbles at the Devil and drove him away. This created the ritual 
of throwing stones at pillars that signifies the rejection of Satan dur-
ing Hajj rites.23 
Muslims rituals look to summarize the passages through journeys 
of human life.24 In general, on the Day of Arafah, non-pilgrims (Hajj) 
have been observed to fast. The following day, special Eid Al-Adha 
prayers are performed at the mosques in congregation when it is fol-
lowed by Khutbah (Sermon) delivered by the Imam and by the end of 
that attendees greet each other and shake hands as observed in many 
Muslim communities such as the Bosniak.25 Sacrificing an animal is 
the next step of the celebrations – which is considered one of the most 
important rituals of the day – and the animal has to fit certain criteria 
and a specific ritual must be followed. The meat of the sacrifice is then 
divided into three parts, one third donated to the poor and needy, one 
to relatives, friends and neighbours, and the last part is kept at home to 
be cooked for the Eid feast and the following meals.26 It is not unusual 
23  Reuven Firestone, Journeys in holy lands: The evolution of the Abraham-Ishmael legends in 
Islamic exegesis (Albany: Suny Press, 1990), 105–221.
24  Marranci, “The Anthropology of Islam,” 27.
25  Mehmed Handžić, “Kurban Bajram/Eid Ul Adha,” Novi Muallim 14, no. 55 (2013): 111, 
https://doi.org/10.26340/muallim.v14i55.315.
26  Torlak et al., “Ritual as Assemblage,” 480.
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for families and friends to gather and attend more than one feast a day 
during Eid celebrations especially in Muslim-majority countries such 
as Malaysia.27
Eid Al-Adha involves religious and cultural rituals which are per-
formed by Muslims across the world. The doctrinal mode of ritual de-
velopments that are frequently repeated, such as annual celebrations, 
build a precise memory routine for the ritual’s abstract or schematic 
organisation.28 Despite the fact that over time some details of scripted 
actions may vary from one performance to another, the schematic se-
quence of events repeat in a fairly high degree of accurate repetition. 
This repetitive routine is typically guided by a firm social hierarchy 
which further minimizes unintended innovation, increases policing, 
monitoring, and sanctioning of nonconformity. Besides preservation, 
the implications of routinisation include identification of anonymous 
worshippers to include in a community. In short, the preservation al-
lows rituals to withstand changes throughout generations, and for those 
who are performing those rituals to express their identity as part of the 
community. 
The religious rituals of Eid Al-Adha are performed virtually identi-
cally among the members of the “imagined community”29 around the 
world. However, different cultures and contexts can reflect particular-
ism in the practices. For example, Muslims attend Eid prayer that in-
cludes a sermon. The topic or the language of the sermon can differ 
slightly across nations due to the context it is being delivered in.30 Simi-
larly, Muslims feast during the Day with the main dish tending to fea-
ture the meat of the sacrifice; however, the food in the feast is adapted 
to the local customs and even to specific household traditions - Van de 
Bruinhorst reports that his informants in Tanga were even confused 
27  Noraziah Ali and Mohd Azlan Abdullah, “The food consumption and eating behaviour of 
Malaysian urbanites: Issues and concerns,” Geografia-Malaysian Journal of Society and Space 8, 
no. 6 (2017): 163, https://ejournal.ukm.my/gmjss/article/view/20088/6386.
28  Scott Atran, In gods we trust: The evolutionary landscape of religion (New York: Oxford 
University Press, 2002), 156.
29  Benedict Anderson, Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of national-
ism (London: Verso books, 2006), 1–206.
30  Van de Bruinhorst, “Raise Your Voices,” 83–85.
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whether spices and salt are allowed or not.31 Developing ethnography 
in various sociocultural contexts and geographical locations would re-
veal the meanings constructed and symbolism within the performance 
of the rituals. Moreover, it would allow us to examine whether those 
meanings remain the same across contexts since, for instance, prayers 
could mean submission to god and/or inclusion, the sermon may com-
municate the value of listening to the wise and elderly and/or support-
ing a shared cause, and feasting could construct and expresses collectiv-
ism and/or reward patience.
The Meanings and Values of Eid Al-Adha
Celebrations tend to be taken for granted by the participants as the 
cultural discourse negotiates meanings and issues that are difficult for 
many to acknowledge, recognise, articulate, and deliberate verbally.32 
The reason this paper argues for the need for ethnographic research 
with regards to Eid Al-Adha is the fact that celebrators utilize actions 
and experiences to construct and express their identity. I will proceed to 
analyse some potential meanings and values that the celebrators com-
municate as parts of their identity.
Collectivism: The Social Aspects of Eid Al-Adha
Symbols may be seen as relations, rather than objects.33 Hence, mean-
ing comes from spatial and temporal relationships established between 
symbols that are objectively experienced throughout social interactions. 
Every single Eid Al-Adha ritual symbolises a Muslim’s relationship with 
an entity. For example, 1) Eid prayers as a submission to God34; 2) two 
thirds of the sacrificial meat are given to the poor and the needy and 
other members of the community35; and 3) feasting tends to start with 
31  Ibid., 139.
32  Caplow and Williamson, “Decoding Middletown’s Easter,” 221–32.
33  Janet L. Dolgin, David S. Kemnitzer, and David Murray Schneider, Symbolic anthropology: 
A reader in the study of symbols and meanings (Naw York: Columbia University Press, 1977), 22.
34  Van de Bruinhorst, “Raise Your Voices,” 274.
35  Torlak et al., “Ritual as Assemblage,” 480.
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the nuclear family and then expand to encompass the extended family 
and friends.36 
Moreover, Eid Al-Adha rituals highlight the collective nature of the 
Muslim culture in general. For instance, the animal sacrifice is for the 
family and community, the Eid prayers are generally collective and in-
clude public sermons, and family and friends are the centrepiece of the 
feasts. This expresses the significance of family and community. 
Similar to what they do for Iftar during Ramadhan37, many cen-
tral mosques around the world arrange a feast, or at least offer some 
snacks and treats38 with an open free invitation for anybody to attend, 
especially those who have no place, no family, or friends to celebrate 
with.39 Some philanthropists and families even host open houses for 
Eid brunch.40 This is important especially for immigrants who live and/
or work abroad. This affirms the sense of inclusion as people donate 
money and food to mosques serving this purpose. 
Eid Al-Adha coincides with and marks the Hajj season. I will further 
describe the rites in a coming section. However, it must be noted that 
the rites are performed by all pilgrims at the same period of time, wear-
ing identical clothing, and aiming to achieve the same goal.41 People 
from around the world and from different backgrounds get together 
to perform the rites, which emphasises the membership in the “com-
munity”.
The celebratory atmosphere and joy that surround Eid Al-Adha is a 
common feeling42; the shared religious, cultural, and/or national iden-
36  Syen Adnan Raza, “A Pakistani Eid (1991),” The Valpo Core Reader 360 (1991): 5–6, http://
scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1310&context=core_reader.
37  Trade Arabia, “Bahrain mosque serves iftar for 400,” July 5, 2015, http://www.tradearabia.
com/news/MEDIA_285611.html.
38  Zainab Iqbal, “Eid Al-Adha During a Pandemic,” Bklyner, July 30, 2020, https://bklyner.
com/eid-al-adha-during-a-pandemic/.
39  Santriani Bohari, “Here's How Muslims Around The World Celebrate Eid Al Adha,” 
HHWT, August 25, 2017, https://www.havehalalwilltravel.com/heres-how-muslims-around-
the-world-celebrate-eid-al-adha.
40  Tasmiha Khan, “How Families Are Celebrating Eid al-Adha This Year,” The New York 
Times, July 31, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/parenting/eid-al-adha-families-
coronavirus.html.
41  Marranci, The Anthropology of Islam, 25–26.
42  Van de Bruinhorst, Raise Your Voices, 350.
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tities in each context bringing the celebrators together. Everybody re-
ceives the same greetings and good wishes offering a sense of unity.43 I 
stress the need for ethnographic research with regards to Eid Al-Adha 
as it will reveal which part of their identity the participants associate the 
holiday and its consumption rituals with. For instance, members of a 
Muslim community within a European country could only construct 
their religious identity through their celebrations since they would be 
coming from different cultural backgrounds; while celebrators in a 
Muslim-majority country could construct and express their religious, 
cultural, and/or national identities. Still, the common celebratory feel-
ing should reflect some sense of belonging to an “imagined commu-
nity”.
The main characteristic for the holiday is its social aspect. In order 
to comfortably participate in all collective rituals, one must be able to 
forgive. I believe that this assumption is reasonable since much of the 
consumption rituals are collective, such as the prayers and the feast. 
Should one have an issue with a community or a family member, it 
would make the meeting awkward. Eid brings the society together dur-
ing prayers. Two thirds of the sacrifice go to other people, constructing 
the value that one’s family is not reduced to their blood-relatives, but 
more generally the community in which they live. In some cultures, Eid 
breakfast puts the nuclear family around the same table.44 The extended 
family surround the holiday feast. Afternoons mark the gathering of 
friends.45 All those are opportunities for a person to come to a common 
ground with the people with whom he/she have differences with. 
Family is an integral entity within the Islamic culture since Islam 
stresses the significance of strong family relationships and emphasis-
es respect and kindness within the institution.46 During the celebra-
tions, Muslims visit and greet each other. Distant family members and 
acquaintances get together with some immigrant families returning 
43  Ibid.
44  Ibid., 32–33.
45  Ibid., 33.
46  Nur Suriya Mohd Nor, “Islam and Buddhism: Similarities of Moral Practices,” Al-Iqtan: 
journal of Islamic sciences and comparative studies 3, no. 2 (2019): 31–34, https://journals.iium.
edu.my/al-itqan/index.php/al-itqan/article/download/117/49.
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“home” if Eid Al-Adha coincides with holidays, for example, French 
families of North African origin.47 Therefore, positive kinship and fam-
ily relationships are highlighted during Eid. 
Eid Al-Adha organises the society and emphasises social order. Mus-
lims attend Eid prayers lining up to pray to the same God regardless 
of social status. Eid prayers are additional to the daily five prayers that 
Muslims pray.48 Prayers attendees perform the same rituals and listen 
to the same sermon, which is usually Eid-specific.49 Being all under the 
same “rules” during Eid prayers reflects the Islamic value that all people 
are equal before God no matter one’s background.50 The same applies to 
Hajj, where all pilgrims wear the exact same attire in order to perform 
the rituals which unify them. Last but not least, the fortunate giving to 
the unfortunate characteristic of the holiday stabilises the society and 
the feeling of equality is symbolically and periodically represented. 
Submission to God’s Will:                                                                
The Religious Aspects of Eid Al-Adha
Islam literally translates as “submission to the will of God”.51 The 
rituals of Eid Al-Adha are full of symbolism that are articulated and en-
acted.52 God has asked Muslims to be humble as all are equal in God’s 
eyes regardless of ethnicity and social status53. This is enacted through 
bowing and prostration before God during prayers and through the 
rites of Hajj – to sacrifice if capable, which is articulated through the 
intention of the sacrifice prior to performing it, to care for the family 
47  Anne-Marie Brisebarre, “The Sacrifice of 'Id al-kabir: Islam in the French Suburbs,” An-
thropology today 9, no. 1 (1993): 11, https://doi.org/10.2307/2783335.
48  Hammudah Abdalati, Islam in focus (Indianapolis: American Trust Publications, 1993), 
55–58.
49  Ibid., 58.
50  Ibid., 28–29.
51  Solomon A. Nigosian, Islam: Its history, teaching, and practices (Bloomington: Indiana Uni-
versity Press, 2004), Preface.
52  Van de Bruinhorst, Raise Your Voices, 427–429.
53  Samir Ahmad, Abuznaid, “Business ethics in Islam: the glaring gap in practice,” Inter-
national Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management 2, no. 4 (2009): 284, 
https://doi.org/10.1108/17538390911006340.
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institution that is seen as they attempt to come together, to engage in 
solidarity within the community as is observed during the prayers and 
exchange of meat, to listen to and respect the elderly, especially one’s 
parents,54 which is reflected in the interactions during the feasts, and to 
show compassion to the unfortunate55 as realised through donating a 
third of the sacrifice to the needy.
The sacrifice ritual is an integral part of consuming the holiday. After 
all, the holiday is named after it. Sacrifice – specifically Qurban – means 
performing a holy act and etymologically it is performing an act that 
makes one closer to God that in turn one will be beloved by God. 
Throughout history, sacrifice can be found as an expression of penance 
and humility of humans before God with the aim to avoid God’s pun-
ishment, regain His favour, show love to Him, and/or answer to His 
will.56  
Sacrifice refers to giving up things which are valued, desired, or 
loved for the sake of something which is more worthy. It can be tan-
gible and countable such as wealth, possessions, or life, and it can be 
intangible and immeasurable as are love and other pleasures. Sacrifice 
aids peace and cooperation and societies would lack cohesiveness and 
strength without it. The ritual offers an abundance of symbols and sym-
bolic meanings.57 Symbols are “storage units” filled with information 
that transform human behaviour and attitudes, carry meanings, and are 
tools for “rousing, channelling, and domesticating power emotions”.58
Atran argues that religious rituals give validation by satisfying the 
emotions that motivate religious beliefs and experiences as they are of-
ten sequential, rigidly formulaic, and publicly performed, thus forging 
54  Nor, “Islam and Buddhism,” 30.
55  Ibid., 38.
56  Mari Jože Osredkar, “Sacrifice – The constitutional element of the human and faith re-
lationship,” in Sacrifice: From origins of culture to contemporary life challenges, ed. Robert Pet-
kovsek and Bojan Žalec (Wien and Zürich: Lit, 2019), 114.
57  Muhammad Shoaib Khan and Anwaar Mohyuddin, “Symbolic Importance of Ritual of 
Sacrifice on Eid Ul Adha (Research Based Study on Satellite Town Rawalpindi),” IMPACT: 
International Journal of Research in Applied, Natural and Social Sciences 1, no. 3 (2013): 59, 
http://www.impactjournals.us/download/archives/--1376906657-7.%20Applied-Symbolic-
Anwaar%20Mohyuddin%20Copy.pdf.
58  Victor Turner, Roger D. Abrahams, and Alfred Harris, The ritual process: Structure and 
anti-structure (New York: Routledge, 2017), 443.
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personal identity and memory according to cultural parameters. They 
are set by signs and displays that manipulate individual sensations and 
coordinate the minds and bodies of the people involved into conver-
gent expression of public sentiment.59 
Atran states that religious offering and sacrifice always yield non-
recoverable costs, yet they are emotionally arousing. He shows how 
sacrifice – human or animal – has always been part of religious and 
cultural lives of mankind where often the animal is consumed by the 
congregation. Religious offerings of unrecoverable costs are involved in 
the selection of the item and the ceremony.60  
For Eid Al-Adha, multiple ethnographic studies regarding the pro-
cess of sacrifice and its timing would show how codified it is across the 
world. For instance, the sacrifice must meet the condition and mini-
mum requirements prior to the act, such as minimum age and type 
of animal. The sacrifice is divided into three equal sections to be con-
sumed by 1) the person who performs that sacrifice and his family, 2) 
the person’s friends, neighbours and acquaintances, and 3) the poor and 
the needy, yet, not necessarily universally.61 
The animal sacrifice serves as a reminder of the prophet Ebrahim’s 
story of willingness to sacrifice his son to comply with God’s order. At 
least once a year, Muslims recognise the importance of appreciating 
God’s wisdom when tested in life. Moreover, the sacrifice reflects one’s 
appreciation for God’s generosity in giving the individual life, health, 
money, time, energy, and other resources that a person uses to have a 
good life. Furthermore, it is a ritual that is performed by many Muslims 
around the world on the same day, which promotes the sense of com-
munity.
The prime reason for Muslim sacrifices is for the will and gratitude 
of God who is always present and will reward the sacrifice through vari-
ous and eternal ways.62 Moreover, God demands individuals sacrifice 
59  Atran, In Gods We Trust, 173.
60  Ibid., 114–117.
61  Van de Bruinhorst, Raise Your Voices, 82, 417–418.
62  Ibid., 327.
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time, which is manifest as the most precious commodity in various 
ways, mainly prayers.63
Besides the sacrifice and Eid prayers, millions of Muslims perform 
the Hajj rites prior to and during the Eid Al-Adha period. Hajj (Pil-
grimage) to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam that must be per-
formed by all financially and physically capable adult Muslims at least 
once in a lifetime and the rites mainly occur from the eighth to the 
twelfth of the same month, Dhu Al-Hijjah. 
Marranci describes the Muslim pilgrimage ritual.64 Hajj is a collec-
tion of rites that recall the relationship between Ebrahim, his family 
and God. Each pilgrim re-enacts Ebrahim’s and his wife’s Hajar’s ac-
tions according to Islamic tradition. Marranci emphasizes the symbol-
ism revealed during it with regards to the different stages of human life. 
Two of the rites during Hajj involve seven circumambulations of the 
Ka’ba and seven times running back and forth between two hills near 
the Ka’ba – similar to what Hajar did in search for water for her son. 
The important and emotional rite of Waqfat Arafah occurs on the 9th of 
the month where pilgrims stand on the Plain of Arafah where pilgrims 
ask God for forgiveness for their sins. It marks the moment where the 
pilgrim is purified by his/her repentance. Following the travel through 
the mountain pass of Muzdalifa, pilgrims go towards the valley of Mina 
where they recall Ebrahim’s rejection of Satan’s lure. The pilgrims throw 
seven pebbles at a tall stone pillar and then an animal, usually a sheep, is 
sacrificed to memorialise God’s substitution of sheep for Ebrahim’s son. 
During Hajj, all pilgrims wear identical garments called Ihram Cloth-
ing that signifies that all Muslims submit to God, that all humans are 
equal despite wealth or social class, serves as a reminder that life is finite 
since a Muslim is buried in a similar garment, offers a symbolic value 
of rendering the Islamic identity visible since more than two million 
Muslims perform the Hajj ritual yearly, and puts the “ummah” with 
its different cultural traditions under one creed. Similarly, men shave 
their heads and women cut a fingertip-length of their locks, a matter of 
fundamental importance in diminishing, symbolically, one’s status in 
63  Nigosian, Islam, 103.
64  Marranci, The Anthropology of Islam, 25–26.
P O L I G R A F I
130
traditional social order. The change from those garments to the resump-
tion of everyday dress and shaving mark the end of the ritual.
To summarise, the sacrifice, Eid prayers for non-pilgrims, and Hajj, 
are religious rites that celebrators perform and consume as symbols to 
submit to God’s will through reliving and experiencing the story of 
Ebrahim.
Giving and Charity: Eideyah and Meat
Eid Al-Adha is the time for the practice of Eideyah, a tradition that 
is performed within many Muslim communities.65 While most popu-
lar holidays involve gift exchange, Eideyah is unique because it tends 
to be a one-way gift from specific people (elders) to certain members 
(children). Despite it being a system where everybody receives Eideyah 
at one point in their lives, it still differs from other one-way gift-giving 
systems such as birthdays or weddings. During the latter celebrations, 
the person celebrating the birthday and the couple getting married re-
ceive the gifts, the receivers are then still socially obliged to give gifts for 
the giver’s birthdays or weddings. Eideyah on the other hand categorizes 
the givers and the receivers such that some are always on the receiving 
end. I believe Eideyah practice has not received the sociological atten-
tion it deserves akin to the gift-giving practice of, say, Christmas.  
There is some particularism among Muslims regarding Eideyah as 
in some traditions and societies it is a monetary gift66, while in others, 
they give out candies to the children or a small symbolic gift67 instead of 
cash.68 Some would argue that a monetary gift provides the opportunity 
65  Amjad Iqbal, “Demand for New Notes for Eidi rises,” Dawn, July 16, 2015, https://
www.dawn.com/news/1194767/; Shailvee Sharda, “Eidi: A tradition wrapped in emotions & 
nostalgia,” The Time of India, August 9, 2013, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/luc-
know/Eidi-A-tradition-wrapped-in-emotions-nostalgia/articleshow/21718937.cms; Reza Jalali, 
"Muslims in Maine: Eid Mubarak!," Maine Policy Review 24, no. 1 (2015): 159–160, https://
digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol24/iss1/43.
66  Ibid., 159–160; A. Iqbal, “Demand for New Notes.”
67  Dawood Mohammad, ديلاقتلا ديصر نم ةدماص لازت ال ... اهدحو ةيديعلا [Eideyah only 
… Still standing from the traditions],” November 27, 2009, https://www.albayan.ae/our-
homes/2009-11-27-1.496290.
68  Sharda, “Eidi.”
C O N S U M I N G  E I D  A L - A D H A
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for the receivers to obtain whatever they want.69 In some societies, Ei-
deyah is not exclusively a gift from elders to children since it can also be 
given to the mother, sister, aunts, grandfathers, and grandmothers.70 
Moreover, the gift-giving process during Eid reinforces values similar to 
those of other gift-giving rites, such as solidarity and kinship.
Eideyah is an important ritual during the celebrations. Rituals are 
opportunities to “affirm, evoke, assign, or revise the conventional sym-
bols and meaning of the cultural order”71 and they are powerful tools 
to manipulate cultural meaning. The earlier image of researchers seeing 
gift-giving as a form of economic exchange has been transferred to the 
perspective of symbolic exchange to emphasise social bonds and may 
be guided by unselfish factors.72 Other studies argue that it is a form of 
social expression.73 The Eideyah ritual is full of symbolic meanings such 
as unselfishness, generosity, sense of community and belonging, care 
for family institution, and special attention to children. Moreover, the 
uniqueness of the ritual and the “categories” of the givers and receivers 
express the identity of the participants. 
Sherry breaks down gift-giving into three stages. The first step is 
gestation, where an event motivates the giver to obtain the gift which 
may be structural (prescribed by culture) or emergent (personal decision 
and idiosyncratic). The second stage is prestation, during which the re-
cipient reacts to the gift and the giver evaluates this reaction. The third 
is reformulation, where the bonds are adjusted to mirror the new rela-
tionship emerging between the giver and the receiver. The second stage 
determines the third either positively or negatively.74 The routinisation 
69  Ibid.
70  Mohammad, “Eideyah Only.”
71  Grant McCracken, “Culture and consumption: A theoretical account of the structure and 
movement of the cultural meaning of consumer goods,” Journal of consumer research 13, no. 1 
(1986): 78, https://doi.org/10.1086/209048. 
72  Tina M. Lowrey, Cele C. Otnes, and Julie A. Ruth, “Social influences on dyadic giving 
over time: A taxonomy from the giver's perspective,” Journal of Consumer Research 30, no. 4 
(2004): 555–557, https://doi.org/10.1086/380288.
73  Russell W. Belk and Gregory S. Coon, “Gift giving as agapic love: An alternative to the 
exchange paradigm based on dating experiences,” Journal of consumer research 20, no. 3 (1993): 
410–411, https://doi.org/10.1086/209357.
74  John F. Sherry Jr, “Gift giving in anthropological perspective,” Journal of consumer research 
10, no. 2 (1983): 164–165, https://doi.org/10.1086/208956.
P O L I G R A F I
132
of the process of Eideyah, especially the monetary type, is structural and 
leaves little room for surprises unless the giver decides to offer greater 
amounts than usual. Therefore, the reaction would be the same yearly. 
The relationships are affirmed between the givers and receivers. Inter-
estingly though, the amounts that a giver gives could differ according 
to recipients’ “needs”, their financial situation, and age.75 For instance, 
a teenager or an unemployed adult would “need” a higher amount of 
money than a six-year-old. The more ethnographic accounts are written, 
the more we can engage in comparative studies regarding what type of Ei-
deyah is given in different societies, who tend to be the givers and who the 
receivers, and the societal and cultural values that the process constructs. 
Mauss76 reveals that moral obligations and construction of social 
bonds are main elements and reasons for gift exchanges, the gifts in-
dicating social relationships and classifications. This naturally entails 
the loss of economic value to secure social value for the individual or 
group. The animal sacrifice for Eid Al-Adha is divided into thirds, in 
most cases, with the majority of the meat given to acquaintances, the 
poor, and the needy. This promotes numerous cultural values. Firstly, it 
brings neighbours and distant people together, constructing the impor-
tance of having good relationship with the rest of the society. Secondly, 
it encourages sharing and generosity. Thirdly, it is a reminder that char-
ity helps enhance the life of the poor. This yearly occasion can turn into 
regular charity through contact with people in need. 
It must be noted that Eideyah is also practiced during Eid Al-Fitr, 
however, Eid Al-Adha is marked by the sacrifice and unique due to the 
Hajj season.
Patience is Rewarded: Abundant Homemade Feasting
In the case of Eid, one of the rewards for being patient is the op-
portunity to indulge abundantly in life’s pleasures, mainly food, drinks, 
75  Paltoday, “؟ديعلا يف ةيديعلا لصأ ام [What is the origin of Eideyah in Eid?],” August 19, 
2012, https://paltoday.ps/ar/post/144797/. 
76  Marcel Mauss, The gift: The form and reason for exchange in archaic societies (London: Rout-
ledge, 2002), 83–107.
C O N S U M I N G  E I D  A L - A D H A
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and social time. Many Muslims fast77, save money78, and go for ward-
robe shopping79 long before the event in preparation. Many observe 
Arafah Day through fasting that is followed by feasting on Eid Day, 
creating a meaningful sequential structure80.
Martens and Warde state that scholarly work in sociology of din-
ing is virtually non-existent at both the level of friends’ homes and 
the extended families’. The authors find that the occasions are often 
not bound by a set of rules and conduct, but there are several forms of 
improvisation that either involve less effort for the host(ess), such as us-
ing home delivery services and supermarket meals, a communal effort, 
with each person bringing a course, or the service becoming a collective 
performance between the guests and the host(ess).81 In the Eid Al-Adha 
feast, it is common to find the collective effort in which the guests 
bring along some dishes and sweets, while the host(ess) cooks the main 
dish that features the meat from the sacrifice. One the other hand, it is 
actually rude to bring any sort of food to the host(ess)’s house in some 
cultures.82 
Moreover, celebrators would describe the food within the feast as be-
ing fresh, traditional, local, and “homemade,” or “made from scratch”.83 
Similar emic descriptions regarding Thanksgiving Day may be found.84 
However, in some cases during Eid the meat may not be local, the rice 
may be imported, and side dishes may simply just be “transformed at 
home”. Consumers of Eid Al-Adha would argue that “as long as you 
put an effort in it and prepare at home, then it is homemade”.
77  Van de Bruinhorst, Raise Your Voices, 171.
78  Ibid., 328.
79  Ibid., 174.
80  Ibid., 171.
81  Lydia Martens and Alan Warde, “Power and resistance around the dinner table,” in Con-
suming Cultures: power and resistance, ed. Jeff Hearn and Sasha Rosenei (London: Macmillan 
Publishers Ltd, 1999), 92–106. 
82  Elizabeth Devine and Nancy L. Braganti, The Travelers' Guide to Asian Customs and Man-
ners (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1986), 142–194.
83  Elizabeth C. Hirschman, Ayalla A. Ruvio, and Mourad Touzani, “Breaking bread with 
Abraham’s children: Christians, Jews and Muslims’ holiday consumption in dominant, minor-
ity and diasporic communities,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 39, no. 3 (2011): 
439–441, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-010-0209-2.
84  Wallendorf and Arnould, “We Gather Together,” 27–29.
P O L I G R A F I
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The main dish is usually prepared at home. However, many of the 
side dishes, snacks, and drinks may be obtained from supermarkets and 
transformed by either removing the packaging and serving them on a 
plate or just combining several purchased elements together. For exam-
ple, hummus and bread are sides that are often found during the feast 
in some Arab Muslim homes, and both may be made at home in certain 
households, especially in the Levant; but they also may be bought from 
supermarkets and bakeries. However, they could not be served in their 
original packaging. They are served on plates at home and may simply 
have olive oil added on top of the hummus. Salads are an example of 
combining elements, where the ingredients are bought and then simply 
cut and put together to be served in a bowl. Moreover, in some cultures, 
recipes have an element of secrecy to them as they are passed through 
generations and are rarely shared outside the immediate family.85 Eth-
nographic accounts would reveal the particularism reflected among 
households even within the same sociocultural context studied.
In short, Eid Al-Adha consumers feast abundantly in social settings 
and go through great efforts to have the feast prepared and consumed 
at home. This gives the special sense to the holiday, marks it as unique 
from the rest of the days in the year, and gives participants the experi-
ence of reward for their patience and hard work throughout the year.
The Sacred and the Mundane
It would be interesting to investigate what the consumers of Eid Al-
Adha consider as sacred within the celebrations and what is mundane. 
Sacred does not have to be religious in this case. Sacred in this context 
would mean the things and actions that the participants view as integral 
elements of the celebrations, the elements without which Eid celebra-
tions are not complete. The mundane in this context are the things that 
tend to exist during Eid; yet, their absence would not really have an 
impact on the overall experience.
85  Peter Heine, Food culture in the Near East, Middle East, and North Africa (Connecticut: 
Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004), 62.
C O N S U M I N G  E I D  A L - A D H A
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During Eid, people do not go to work in Muslim-majority coun-
tries, which gives necessary time for visitations. The main aspect of the 
holiday is the social settings. Gatherings can be seen as the most sacred. 
Whether it is at the mosque for prayers, breakfast with the nuclear fam-
ily, visiting distant acquaintances, feasting with the extended family, or 
going out in the evening with friends, the holiday could not be consid-
ered a “proper” one without the social gatherings. Various ethnographic 
accounts would showcase whether the social aspects are considered the 
most sacred among the holiday consumers, how they rank those social 
settings in term of sacredness, and the particularism reflected in those 
rankings in different contexts. 
There is the “giving” aspect of the holiday. Eideyah plus giving out 
money and/or the meat to the needy make Eid special for givers and 
receivers. Some donate clothes to the poor as they see that as an impor-
tant component of the holiday since one would not really feel that it is 
Eid unless they were wearing festive clothes86.
Naturally, the religious aspects of the holiday are seen as essential. 
The prayers and the sacrifice are the backbones of the celebrations.
When it comes to food, abundance and variety are important in or-
der to feel that the Day is special, and single it out from the rest of the 
year. Most families would have specific Eid dishes that otherwise would 
not be cooked or served. However, those dishes differ across house-
holds. Many would say that the food has to be local and “traditional”. 
It would be interesting to see if ethnography reveals that consuming 
“foreign” food such as pizza or burgers during the Eid main feast may 
be considered a “sin”.
Dishes and side dishes which are also prepared throughout the year 
can be seen as mundane. People may even attempt to refrain from eat-
ing them during the feast since they “can eat them anytime they want”. 
Moreover, the societies that go out in the evenings of the holiday to 
places such as restaurants, coffee shops, cinemas, etc., may do so less as 
they grow older in order to avoid traffic and crowds. Would they prefer 
to gather at someone’s place and either get food delivered, pick it up 
86  Van de Bruinhorst, Raise Your Voices, 174.
P O L I G R A F I
136
from restaurants, and/or consume the leftovers of the feast since the 
main point for doing so is to socialise?
Local Identity Expression (Particularism):                                       
Clothing, Foods, Ritual and Practices
Muslims share the same religion, yet it would be naïve to assume that 
all their practices are identical since many factors affect those practices 
– especially the local culture. In CCT, the authors discuss Consumer 
Identity Projects being the ways consumers create a coherent self by 
utilising market-produced materials.87 There is wide agreement within 
social sciences that people wear clothes as a statement of identity.88 As 
mentioned earlier, many participants of Eid wear their traditional local 
attire which are newly acquired while they strive to be dressed their best 
to mark the special day. The traditional clothing is a statement of one’s 
identity. During Eid, they are statements of national and cultural iden-
tities as local style of clothing differ across societies and communities. 
Moreover, there is an emphasis on being well-groomed and “smelling 
good”. Going to barbershops to get a haircut and a fresh trim among 
men, and going to a hair salon to prepare for the holiday by women, are 
common practices in many societies hours before the Day, with many 
women getting Henna as part of their hair-salon ritual (for instance, 
in Bangladesh).89 Many Arabs utilise the traditional oud90 and/or buk-
hoor91 to smell good.92 This adds to the “special” feeling of the holiday 
that expresses the consumers’ local identity.
87  Arnould and Thompson, “Consumer Culture Theory (CCT),” 871–73.
88  Fred Davis, Fashion, culture, and identity (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013), 
3–5.
89  Nadia Tasnim Piya, “Cultural festivals those have an enormous impact on the fashion 
industry of Bangladesh,” International Journal of Advance Research, Ideas and Innovations in 
Technology 4, no. 5 (2018): 573–576, https://www.ijariit.com/manuscript/cultural-festivals-
those-have-an-enormous-impact-on-the-fashion-industry-of-bangladesh/.
90  Also called agarwood: a scent.
91  Incense.
92  Rosdalina Bukido and Laila F. Bamastraf, “The Acculturation of Local Culture and Arabic 
Culture in Manado of North Sulawesi,” in International Conference on Ethics in Governance 
(ICONEG 2016) (Paris: Atlantis Press, 2016), 184.
C O N S U M I N G  E I D  A L - A D H A
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The same applies to food since what is eaten is part of one’s iden-
tity. The fact that consumers would emphasise that the food and drink 
consumed during the Day must be traditional, local, and fresh reflects 
the notion that the holiday celebration is a marker of identity. They see 
that consuming the holiday as “traditionally” as possible is what makes 
the holiday special. For instance, some Arabs would even go camping 
in the desert and feast there as part of their celebrations due to their 
heritage as nomads.
There are practices and rituals that are connected to the holiday 
which are only local or regional. The Heya Beya is an example of that. 
This ritual is observed in Gulf countries such as Kuwait and Bahrain 
and is part of their folklore.93 It is a small basket made out of palm 
leaves that holds plants such as wheat or barley which are planted weeks 
before Eid and hung around the house to grow. It is a children’s activ-
ity – they water it every morning. On Arafah Day, children wearing 
their traditional dresses go with the family to the beach, wave the plant 
around while singing a specific chant before tossing the plant into the 
sea. The chant and the entire ritual are prayers to God to make Eid a 
happy holiday and to bring back the ones who travelled to Hajj safe, 
healthy, and with gifts for them. The ritual is a social activity that teach-
es children patience, care for belongings and others, and sacrifice. These 
are the same values that Eid Al-Adha constructs for adults. Moreover, 
being part of the local folklore with traditional elements, Heya Beya is 
a mean of local, national, and cultural expression of identity during a 
religious holiday.
Conclusion
This paper argues the need for more ethnographic research explor-
ing the meanings and values that Muslims construct and express as 
parts of their identities. Muslim holidays, especially Eid Al-Adha, are 
under-researched from the point of view of what Muslims do and say 
93  Daily Tribune, “Heya Beya: Children learn joy of giving,” The Daily Tribune: News of 
Bahrain, September 13, 2016, accessed July 2, 2020, https://www.newsofbahrain.com/bah-
rain/24952.html.
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138
rather than what the scriptures and scholars say. The paper discusses 
the meanings of Eid Al-Adha that members of the community may as-
sociate with the holiday as part of their collective and individual identi-
ties. It showcases how identity and values are (re)constructed through 
consuming holidays. Moreover, it argues that extensive ethnographic 
research in different contexts would reveal the particularism among the 
“imagined community” which defies orientalist and essentialist points 
of views. 
I believe that the most promising research questions in the future 
revolve around ethnographic accounts discussing sociocultural issues 
regarding the consumption of the holiday. Examples include, but are 
not limited to a) the particularism in practices such as Eideyah and the 
values it constructs in different contexts; b) the experiences and percep-
tions of the celebrators themselves, such as the positive and negative 
feelings they associate with the holiday and what they consider as sacred 
and mundane; and c) how the celebrations change, what aspects of 
them remain, and the challenges faced once an immigrant moves from 
a society where the majority celebrate a certain holiday to one where 
the majority do not.  
When it comes to the Muslim identity, Marranci discusses one po-
tential reason for the academic interest in it being recent. Social scien-
tists initially were “too busy” attempting to investigate the way “Islam 
creates Muslims”. Only around the 1990s did research on Muslim iden-
tity fully develop in an effort to understand western-born Muslims. 
Still, social scientists have “privileged the outside perspective”.94 There-
fore, ethnographic research of Muslims from the inside perspective is 
required to describe the meanings expressed as parts of their identities.
The celebration of Eid Al-Adha is a collective ritual which celebrates 
material and spiritual abundance that is enacted through sacrificing, 
gift-giving (Eideyah), collective prayers, social gatherings, and feasting. 
Through consumption, basic needs are met abundantly, culture is ex-
pressed, and identity is constructed. Identity construction during Eid 
does not stop at that. The collective prayers are a way to consume the 
religious aspect of the holiday. The family and friends gathering is to 
94  Marranci, The Anthropology of Islam, 95.
C O N S U M I N G  E I D  A L - A D H A
139
consume the social side. The Eideyah and including the poor are parts 
of the charitable nature of the religion and culture. Hence, consumers 
not only construct their identity through market-produced material, 
but also through consuming spirituality and social settings.
The rituals of sacrificing, fasting, and praying affirm the religious 
identities of participants as Muslims. Consuming food, gatherings, and 
respecting the elderly while caring for offspring reflect societal values. 
Wearing traditional dresses and styles, eating local food, and celebrat-
ing by folklore are statements of national and cultural identities.
This paper contributes to our understanding of Muslims’ consumer 
behaviour and how they utilise ritual consumption to construct their 
identity. It explores how the holiday is consumed to reflect the cel-
ebrators’ religious identity, their most significant values, such as family, 
charity, sacrifice, and patience, what they consider as sacred, and how 
they may differ individually while being collectively Muslims. It shows 
how traditions may endure, to remain unchanged while creativity and 
change occurs when allowed.
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