Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang'i has declared Tuesday 20, 2021 a public holiday.
In a gazette notice, Matiang'i announced the public holiday noting that Muslims will be marking Idd-Ul-Adha.
It is notified for the general information of the public that in the exercise of the powers conferred by section 2 (2), as read with section 3 of the Public Holidays Act, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Co-ordination of National Government declares that Tuesday, 20th July 2021 shall be a public holiday to mark Idd-Ul-Adha, 2021," the gazette notice read.
The holiday is an Islamic festival that marks the end of Hajj, an annual pilgrimage by Muslim followers to Mecca. It's also time to celebrate the willingness of Abraham to obey God's command to sacrifice his son.
It is one of the two Idd celebrations, Idd-ul-Adha and Idd-ul-Fitr, and is viewed as the holier of the two holidays.
In 2020, the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) Director of Religious Affairs Sheikh Hassan Kinyua told Kenyans.co.ke that they had petitioned President Uhuru Kenyatta and Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i to have the day gazetted as a public holiday.
"What has been guaranteed since the times of the founding President Jomo Kenyatta is Eid ul Fitr, but when it comes to Eid al Adha the government has been playing with us.
"Sometimes, they offer gazettement as a ploy in election years, but what we have been pushing for is for it to be fully enshrined," he observed.
Notably, Muslims have only one public holiday - Eid-ul-Fitr - while Christians have two - Easter and Christmas.
Eid-ul-Adha, also known as ‘Feast of Sacrifice’, is the second of two Islamic holidays celebrated worldwide each year.
Sheikh Mohamed Khalifa explained that to show love and care for neighbours and other people, able Muslims are required to sacrifice an animal and divide it into three parts.
“A third of the slaughtered animal is given to the poor and the needy, a third to friends and neighbours and the other third eaten by the family,” the Sheikh stated.
