SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Eid al-Adha

Honourable senators, I rise today to mark Eid al-Adha — the Feast of Sacrifice — one of the holiest days in the Islamic calendar and a celebration that turns on three timeless virtues: sacrifice, compassion and charity.

Across the world, 1.9 billion Muslims, including Canadians in every province and territory, will mark this celebration tomorrow, which closes the hajj pilgrimage, where more than 2 million pilgrims have gathered today at Mount Arafat near Mecca.

Eid al-Adha honours the story of Prophet Ibrahim — Abraham to Jews and Christians — beloved across all three Abrahamic faiths. Commanded to sacrifice his beloved son, Ibrahim’s hand was stayed by divine mercy.

The lesson, honourable colleagues, is as urgent today as it was thousands of years ago: The highest faith is not blind obedience but moral courage, and the sacrifice of a human life is rejected by God in any name, under any flag and in any age.

This is shared wisdom, woven throughout the Torah, the Bible and the Quran: that faith is tested through trial, that mercy interrupts cruelty and that what unites us is greater than what divides us.

For centuries, this truth has lived quietly in the towns and villages of the Middle East, where neighbours of every faith have joined Eid tables, exchanged greetings and shared ma’amoul cookies together without ever asking after creed.

For Muslim Canadians, this celebration is also an affirmation that here in Canada, faith may be practised openly, proudly and without apology.

Yet we mark this blessed occasion as conflict still rages on in Gaza, the West Bank, Ukraine, Sudan and Lebanon and as tens of millions remain displaced from their homes.

It is precisely in such hours that Eid al-Adha speaks loudest: faith, resilience and our shared humanity.

Let us, as Canadians, recommit ourselves to mutual respect, inclusion and compassion, and let us extend our prayers and our hands to all those who suffer.

On behalf of my family and the Honourable Senators Ataullahjan, Gerba, Mohamed, Ravalia and Yussuff and from this chamber to all those celebrating, we wish you Eid Mubarak.

May this Eid bring peace, hope, relief and unity to all.

Thank you. Meegwetch. Shukran.