TODAY, Muslims all around the world celebrate Hari Raya Aidiladha to comemmorate the spirit of sacrificing one's worldly possessions for God and fellow mankind.

As the pilgrims perform their rites in Mecca, Muslims in Malaysia pay homage to the Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam, by donating meat and money to the poor, in addition to visiting relatives and spending time with their families.

Well your weekend may be packed already, but surely there is time for some Aidiladha-themed TV shows, right? After all, with the good folk at our TV stations dishing out so many fares to celebrate the occasion, we should 'sacrifice' some time to enjoy them!

The selection is endless, but one show that might strike your fancy is slated in TV3's Cerekarama Aidiladha slot, titled Korban Kasih Marlisa, airing tomorrow at 10.05pm.

The story is about a successful businesswoman named Marlisa (Umie Aida) who has spent most of her life focusing on her career. She is so busy with work that she has forgotten about her personal life until, of course, she meets Adam Rais, a young executive at the same company she works at.

They fall in love and Adam (Awal Ashaari) makes the decision to wed Marlisa. He asks her to accompany him back to his village, to be properly introduced to his mother. Unfortunately, however, his mother had other plans for Adam, which include marrying him off to another girl.

"The problem is that Marlisa is an older woman and a city girl, whereas Adam's mother already made up her mind to pair her son with Nuraina, a girl he grew up with," explained Awal. Korban Kasih Marlisa also stars Tizz Zakiah, Arash Mohd, Fadhilah Mansor, Datuk Rahim Razali, Aida Radzwill and Kismah Johar.

"To me, the gist of Aidiladha is about making sacrifices, and that can be interpreted in so many ways — including sacrificing your love," Awal added. "This story is about the sacrifices that Marlisa had to make for others to be happy. My character Adam had to sacrifice his love for Marlisa too, for his family's sake."

Awal said, growing up, he had a different view about Aidiladha. "When I thought about Aidiladha, the first thing that came to my mind was the sacrifice of cows and sheep.

"I grew up in Kampung Baru and there, a week before Aidiladha, there were already cows at the mosque ready to be slaughtered. My friends and I would feed them and play with them, not realising that they were going to be sacrificed.

"When the day for the animals to be slaughtered arrived, I cried. That was when my parents told me not to pity the animals as that would make their meat haram (forbidden) for me to eat. As I grew older, I understood that Aidiladha means so much more than just sacrificing cows and sheep.

"If you want to know more about Aidiladha, I also suggest that you watch Konsert Evolusi Damai on Musik Aktif (Astro 180) at 9pm on tonight," said Awal, who is co-hosting the show with Maya Karin.

"Apart from the singing, there are lots of discussions about Hari Raya Aidiladha. It's a show that's not only entertaining, but informative as well."

The concert will feature 10 of our renowned local artistes, namely Ramli Sarip, Maman, Kavita, Zahid, Zainal Abidin, Yantzen, Akbar, Tiar Aziz, Kumpulan SSK and Rida.