[Smilina]

I have found something more about Kurban bayramı, and I thought I'd be nice to share:

Kurban Bayramı - The Festival of Sacrifice

In Turkey, bayrams are very important times. In terms of the emphasis put on the bayrams, you can compare them with the Christmas in Christian countries. However, their content and the way they are celebrated have some important differences from Christmas.

Basics - How did it Start?

Bayrams are religious holidays, so their roots are in the religion, Islam. According to Islamic rules, every adult Muslim wealthy enough has to sacrifice a farm animal in the Kurban Bayramı for God. The definition of 'who is wealthy' is done in some level of detail by the religious authorities. This sacrifice on the occasion of Kurban Bayramı is obligatory for Muslims and not doing it is considered as a sin. It can be said that this sacrifice is the symbol of the readiness of the sacrificer to sacrifice and lay down all his interests and desires in the cause of God.


The offer of sacrifice for God dates back to times before Prophet Muhammed and the birth of Islam. Therefore, this yearly sacrifice was performed before Muslims. The foundation of this act of goes back to Propher Ibrahim. Prophet Ibrahim was put to a tough test by God to prove the strength of his faith. In his dream, God speaks to him and asks him to sacrifice his son Ismail (who also becomes a prophet later). Ibrahim tells this to his son Ismail, and Ismail tells him to do what God wanted him to do. Prophet Ibrahim takes his son to Mount Mina near Mecca to do his offering to God. Prophet Ibrahim is ready to sacrifice his son for God, and his son Ismail is ready to die for God. However, before the sacrifice takes place, God sends a goat with his angel Gabriel and tells Ibrahim that he passed the test of God. Prophet Ibrahim is then asked to sacrifice the goat instead of his son as the sign of his loyalty to God. Since that day, the offer of sacrifice to God is performed by the followers of Prophet Ibrahim and the other Prophets following him.

The time of Kurban Bayramı is determined based on the moon calendar. Since the moon year is ten days shorter than the year based on the sun, the time of Kurban Bayramı goes back ten days every year. It lasts for four days and this time overlaps with the time of Hac (visiting the Kaba in Mecca) (C is pronounced as G). This year, in 2005, Kurban Bayramı was celebrated from January 20th to January 23rd.
(You can calculate the following years simply by subtracting ten days from this date for each year passed).

General Bayram Customs

There are customs common to both bayrams, Ramazan Bayramı and Kurban Bayramı.


Remembering the Ancestors

On the day of bayram's eve (the day before bayram starts), people go to graveyards to visit the graves of the lost ones and pray for their souls. It is common to take children along to give them the feeling of respect for the lost ones.

Bayram Prayer

On the first day of the bayrams, early in the morning (a little after sunrise), all the Muslims go to mosques to do the bayram prayer. This is very common in Turkey, even the people who don't pray at other times generally go to the bayram prayer. This is the common way to start the bayram. After the prayer, which takes about 15 minutes, people gather outside to celebrate each other's bayrams and maybe chat a little. In Kurban Bayramı, the sacrifice can be done after this prayer.

Buying Gifts?

People don't buy gifts to each other in bayrams. Instead, it is common to buy new clothes to especially children for the bayram. This makes bayrams even more important for children since they wear their new clothes in the morning, go to prayer with their families and feel the freshness and joy of the bayram.

Visiting Relatives


One very important part of the bayrams is family and friend visits, especially the visits to the older members of the family. Large families commonly come all together at the house of the grandparents. This is a time to see the missed relatives and to close the gap between the members of the family before it grows too large.

It is an important custom to kiss the people that are at least one generation older than you in these bayram visits. This is another opportunity for the children to enjoy the bayram, since old people generally give money to little children who kiss their hands.

Turkish Phrases


Note: The parts in brackets are for plural or formal use.

Bayramın (Bayramınız) kutlu olsun. - Have a happy bayram.
Bayramın (Bayramınız) mübarek olsun. - Have a blessed bayram.
İyi bayramlar. - Happy bayram.
Bayram namazı - Bayram prayer
Bayramlık - Clothes bought and worn for bayram


Kurban Bayramı Customs

The most obvious one, and the one that distinguishes Kurban Bayramı from Ramazan Bayramı is the offering of the sacrifice.

Sacrificing a Farm Animal

Every adult Muslim that is wealthy enough has to offer a sacrifice to God on this bayram. One individual can sacrifice a sheep or goat that is more than one year old. However, larger animals like cows or camels can be shared between up to seven people and they must be more than two years old. Very sick, defected or pregnant animals are not accepted for sacrifice.

What is the Reasoning?

The meat from the sacrificed animal is consumed during the four day festival and later on. When one sacrifices an animal, one third of the meat is kept for the household, one third is consumed with friends and relatives, and the remaining one third are distributed to poor people who can't afford a sacrifice at this time. Therefore, bayrams are times for remembering the obligations to God, getting together with with family members and friends, and sharing.



Tis a bit long, but the story is interesting.

[**claire**]

Thanks Smil, I really enjoyed reading that!!!

[Damn_Fine_Black_Girl]

Yeah thanx for that it was really interresting to read

[Oonie]

Thanks for sharing that. I found it really interesting. It is nice to learn about other cultures and customs

[sfatih]

Deleted by Admin

[Umit]

You can not distribute your commercial website. Also, your website contains too commercial matterial, not informative for our members...

Please read the forum rules at;
http://forum.kusadasi.biz/thread1.html

[sfatih]

Originally Posted by Admin

You can not distribute your commercial website. Also, your website contains too commercial matterial, not informative for our members...

Please read the forum rules at;
http://forum.kusadasi.biz/thread1.html

OK, I see the forum rules. It is allowed to copy-paste content written by someone else, but it is not allowed to post the link to that content. Even the images were linked directly, which is basically leeching bandwidth. And this article is word by word taken from that web site which is "not informative for your members". Anyway, sorry for the trouble.

[Umit]

You are right about copying and paste the content without any permission and thats driving me nuts. i will sort out the problem.

[sfatih]

Oh, thank you for the nice reply. I think I overreacted a little, sorry.

[Umit]

Fatih, i will add a rule to "Forum Rules" about that issue.

And, i am fighting with link spammers (not with you) - thats why the forum rules tight... i am sorry about that.