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Summary
Today, the end of Hajj will mark the beginning of Eid-ul-Azha as this Festival of Sacrifice, commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, on God's command. Cattle, goats and camels are slaughtered the morning of the festival and the meat is shared with the poor.Nearly 3 million Muslims performing the annual hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia climbed the rocky desert Mount Arafat on Monday, chanting that they have come to answer God's call. The white-robed pilgrims began their ascent at dawn, covering the Mountain of Mercy at Arafat in an endless sea of white as their chants of Labyek Allah, meaning Here I am, God, answering your calling. Pilgrims had converged on Mount Arafat and its surrounding plain from early yesterday morning. Today evening, the crowds will head to the next stage of the pilgrimage in Muzdalifa, where they collect pebbles to use in the symbolic stoning of the devil the next day. On the remaining three days of the hajj, the pilgrims continue the ritual stoning before performing the circumnabulation of the Kaaba shrine in Mecca and then heading home.It merits to mention that Bohra community of Karachi are also celebrating Eid today along with Saudi Arabia. Sunni Bohras or Sunni Vohras, are a Sunni Muslim community found in the province of Sindh in Pakistan and the state of Gujarat in India. Sharing a large number of cultural similarities with the Dawoodi Bohras, they are often confused as Bohras. However, they are different in the fact that they are Sunni following the Hanafi fiqh. An overwhelming majority of the Gujrati speaking Vohra community of Pakistan, lives in the port city of Karachi in Sindh province. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Eid-ul-Azha is being celebrated with religious zeal and fervor with sacrificing the animals to commemorate the Great Sacrifice in Islam. Khyber Agency and Mohmand too joined KP in the festivities.
