THE Muslim community celebrated the festival of Eid-al-Adha, one of the two major religious festivals in Islam, this week.

It commemorates the story of Hazrat Ibrahim's (peace be upon him), willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismaeil, in the name of God.

It is thus also known as the festival of the sacrifice. For the Muslims the sacrifice in this context does not imply the usual meaning of atonement for sin or an attempt to appease a deity, but signifies the remembrance of Hazrat Ibrahim's (pbuh) sacrifice of his own desires and attachments in submission to the will of Allah.

Eid is a joyous occasion for the Muslim community, and although it is celebrated over three days, most of the time people celebrate the first day together.

The day starts with a cleansing shower, new or the best available clothes, which for the children and ladies are bright and colourful and specially prepared as party wear.

For the menfolk, the local mosque is the first port of call.

After the Eid prayers people visit friends and relatives with small gifts of food or Asian sweets and after midday, the dining tables groan under specially prepared party food, which in the Asian community, consists of tandoori chicken, pilau rice, zarda (sweet yellow rice) and tasty curries as staples.

However, the foot-and-mouth epidemic has meant that people intending to slaughter an animal as a religious sacrifice could not and the lack of mutton, lamb and beef also restricted the variety of Eid dinners.

THE Muslim Parliament of Great Britain is organising a seminar on The Terrorism Act 2000

The Act has serious implications for many people because whereas formerly "terrorism" was defined exclusively as a political crime, it now embraces anyone promoting a "political, religious or ideological" cause. For more information call 020 8563 1995.