Kazakhstan to celebrate Kurban Ait (Eid al-Adha) for three days

Kazakh residents will be celebrating Kurban Ait, an Islamic religious holiday, for three days in October, the government says in a statement, reports Interfax-KZ.

October 13, 14 and 15 (Sunday through Tuesday) will be days off and October 12 (Saturday) will be a working day, according to the statement.

Kurban Ait (or Eid al-Adha) is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to honour the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his young first-born son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of submission to God's command and his son's acceptance to being sacrificed, before God intervened to provide Abraham with a Lamb to sacrifice instead.

In the lunar Islamic calendar Kurban Ait falls on the 10th day of the 12th month (Dhu al-Hijjah). In the international Gregorian calendar, the dates vary from year to year, drifting approximately 11 days earlier each year. This year Kurban Ait falls on October 15.