Eid Al-Adha (belated)

At the end of October, Morocco, along with the rest of the Muslim world, celebrated the Festival of the Sacrifice. This holiday, called Eid Al-Adha or Eid Al-Kabeer in Arabic, celebrates the story of Abraham and his son Ishmael from the Quran. In the story, which is present also in both the Bible and the Torah, God tests Abraham’s obedience to Him. As an act of submission to God, Abraham showed his willingness to sacrifice his first-born son, Ishmael, before God intervened and provided Abraham with a ram to sacrifice instead. In celebration of this act of obedience, Muslim families around the world who can afford it will buy and sacrifice a ram. My host family in Rabat did just that.

In the weeks leading up to Eid, it became very clear in the streets of the medina that the holiday was fast approaching. New stands were set up in the streets that sold hay for the sheep, coal for the grills used to cook the meat, and knives to slaughter and butcher the ram. Eid-themed ads filled the television and banks began offering loan services for buying sheep. At the beginning of the week, my host mom dressed up in a nice outfit and left to pick out a ram at the souk. She returned later that night with a fairly large one-year-old ram. While some families have the ram live in their house with them for the week leading up to Eid, my family opted to keep it in a community pen located in the medina. Families often spend a large amount of their income during this holiday on gifts and the ram itself. Students also get several days off from school. My 6-year-old host brother had almost two weeks off and my 21-year-old host brother had about a week off from his studies at the university.

This holiday is very important to the Muslim community and there are many traditions that are carried on each year on Eid. Everything from the order in which you eat the parts of the ram, to the dishes you serve with each meal, to the most delicious and prized part of the sheep are carefully considered and followed according to tradition. This holiday is also a chance to celebrate with family and community. The act of giving is a large component of this holiday, as much of the ram meat is to be given away to family and friends as well as to those who are less fortunate. The King of Morocco slaughters two rams to signify this important pillar of Islam: one for himself and one as a symbolic gesture to give to those who are less fortunate.

Overall, this holiday reminded me of the Christian celebration of Jesus’ birth. Gifts are given, many people spend a lot of money, children get off school, family and religion are considered to be the highest priority, traditions are strongly upheld, and eating is a large aspect of the holiday. I enjoyed the holiday quite a bit and although the slaughtering of the ram was a very different cultural experience, the traditions and values behind the holiday were very familiar and reminded me of home. It once again proved to me that Muslims and Christians are much more alike than some Western media would like us to believe.

If you’d like to see pictures of the sacrifice check out my Facebook album here.