The Corban Festival -China

Time: The 10th day of the month of Dul Hajah (the 12th month on the Islamic Calendar).

Venue: Areas with large Hui, Uygur and Kazakh communities.

Origin: According to Arabic legend, Ibrahim was a pious follower of Allah. Once, in a dream, Ibrahim got Allah’s divine message for him to slaughter his own son as a sacrifice. When he was about to carry out the order, a messenger sent by Allah descended with a goat, and asked Ibrahim to sacrifice the goat instead of his own son. Since then the Muslims have been marking the day by slaughtering goats for the sake of safety. This gradually evolved into the Corban, a festival for slaughter goats.

What’s On: During the festival the Muslims gather in the mosque for prayers and a ceremony to slaughter the animals. Then families begin to celebrate by slaughtering cattle, goats and camels and treating friends with the meat, and the dinner table is enshrouded in a fraternal atmosphere. In Xinjiang, the various ethnic minorities celebrate the Corban by singing and dancing, and taking part in such games as scrambling for a goat, horse racing, and young women chasing after men for love and fun.