Citizens’ Gear Up To Finalize Eid-ul-Azha Shopping

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Jun, 2024) With less than a week in the religious festival of Eid-ul-Azha, citizens are gearing up to finalize their preparations from shopping clothes and accessories to buying the perfect sacrificial animal for performing the ritual of sacrifice.

A number of buyers can be witnessed in the main markets and shopping malls of the capital who are purchasing dresses, shoes and other essential accessories to celebrate the upcoming festival in befitting manner.

Majority of the people are in efforts to complete their shopping before the time so that they can leave for their home-towns on Friday after attending their last working day to celebrate the festival on Monday (June 17).

Some are also planning to spend maximum days in their hometown by taking leave after the Eid holidays so that they can enjoy more time with their closest ones. While the children are also excited to spend time with the sacrificial animals which they liked the most in this Eid.

Samia Imran, a mother of three children said, "I have completed shopping for my family before the time as we have to leave for our hometown on Friday to celebrate the festival with our relatives".

Talking to APP, she said, “It is difficult to do excessive shopping during the prevailing price hike situation in the country and we have to buy a sacrificial animal too so we are focusing on buying the most essential items”. 

The hustle and bustle of the livestock sellers, butchers, and local retailers during the Eid-ul-Azha festival is indicative of the holiday's importance from both a cultural and economic standpoint.

Kamran Ali, a young boy said, “On this Eid, the biggest excitement for all of us is buying sacrificial animal and decorating it before the ritual of sacrifice.

Usually all we friends exchange pictures of our animals to make this occasion memorable”.

“We all also go for a walk with our sacrificial animal, decorate them with beautiful ornaments and henna and feed these”, he said.

Local butchers are also expecting a significant boom in their business as many families prefer to have the services of professional butchers to sacrifice their animal. “Sometimes we have to hire extra hands to manage the demand as more and more people contact us for this task”, Saeed Khan, a local butcher said.

In addition to the economic activity, the festival also fosters a spirit of generosity and community support when majority performing the sacrifice ritual distribute meat of their sacrificial animal among the poor. “Distribution of meat among poor not only helps the less fortunate but also spreads the festive cheer across all the segments of society”, Akram Khan, a government employee said.

As the festival is coming closer, the stalls of bangles and henna are being set up in the main markets of the capital including Super Market, Jinnah Super, Karachi Company, F-10 Markaz etc. to attract the women and girls.

“Buying henna and bangles are an integral part of the Eid festivity. I have completed my shopping and now eagerly waiting for all my cousins and friends to make plan for going to market to buy these items together”, Shazia, a young girl said.

Eid-ul-Azha is one of the major Islamic festival and is marked by the sacrifice ritual of animals, commemorating the willingness of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) to sacrifice his son in obedience to Almighty Allah.