EID ADHA IN JORDAN

Whenever these wooden lamb displays appear on the streets of Aqaba, they mark the coming of the main muslim holidays: Eid Al Fitr or Eid Al Adha, also known as the Eid Al Kabeer or "The Big Feast".

It is actually very bad news for poor lamb...

Eid Al Adha means The Festival of Sacrifice when Muslims commemorate the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice everything for Allah (God)including his beloved son, Ismael (Isaac).

As Ibrahim was about to kill Ismael, Allah intervened and gave Ibrahim a lamb to be the sacrifice instead of his son.

Since Allah gave Prophet Ibrahim a lamb to sacrifice instead of sacrificing his son, Muslims also offer the sacrifice of animals, most often lamb but also goats, camels or cow - what they have or what they can afford to buy.

By the way, that display on the picture is an advertisement offering lamb for sale at JD 99.

People share the meat with family and friends, as well as the poorer members of the community.