(1.) “Of the Infidel’s Easter-day.”—This is the first of the two
Baïrams, the only religious festivals of the Mahomedans. The first,
called Id Fitr—feast of the termination of the fast—falls on the
first day of the month of Chewal, immediately after the feast of
Ramadan. The second, called Id Addha, or Kourban Baïram—feast of
sacrifice—is celebrated seventy days later, on the tenth day of the
month of Zilhidshek. Id indicates the anniversary of these periodical
feasts, which take place in their turn every season during the space
of thirty-three years, according to the lunar months of the Mahomedan
calendar. The first festival is of one day’s duration only, but it is
usually observed for three days. The second, instituted in remembrance
of Abraham’s sacrifice, is continued for four days. Mussulmans
celebrate it by proceeding on a pilgrimage to Mecca, where is the Kaaba
or sanctuary, constructed, it is said, by Abraham and his son Ishmael,
in the form of the tent or tabernacle that was placed there by angels
the day the world was created.
The ancient custom of covering the Kaaba, at this festival, with a
black cloth, is still observed, the old cloth being cut up and sold to
pilgrims, who preserve the pieces as the most precious of relics.—BRUUN.