Month: July 2021

One of the highlights of the Tabaski celebration is dressing up in new clothes and going out to visit friends.  These beautiful young girls came by our apartment this afternoon in their new dresses with their new little purses.  They were visiting friends in the neighborhood.  Part of the tradition here is that you ask your neighbors and friends for small change or treats.  I’ve compared Tabaski to Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Now I’ll compare it to Easter, with new dresses, and Halloween with bags for treats and money!

As I visited with these adorable girls, I asked if they’d had a good morning and if they had eaten a lot of mutton.  They answered with a resounding “YES!”  I complimented them on their beautiful dresses and their beautiful hair.  I told them my hair is very boring compared to theirs and asked if I could take pictures of their fancy braids.  They were thrilled.

The girls were also excited to show me their henna hands and feet.  They were so delighted with their fancy dress-ups.  They really are beautiful girls.

Here are their new purses, ready to receive gifts!

From our upstairs apartment we watched a steady flow of people out and about, going to visit friends and family, all dressed in their very finest.  It was like watching a parade.

As we traveled to the church this afternoon, it was fun to see many families on motorcycles, many had both parents and 2 children on one bike, often they were dressed in matching new clothes.

It was also fun to see that so many of the travelers today were carrying food to family and friends.  The food is carried in large bowls or containers tied up with fabric.

Today was a visual feast–a day of celebration and joy, of food and friends and of family.

On this Tabaski afternoon we passed the sheep markets on our way to the church.  There were a few stragglers left there, reminding me of a Christmas tree farm on the day after Christmas.  These sheep and rams, the unchosen, will be herded back to the villages they came from to grow another year, if they aren’t picked for a different meal first.

When we got to the church, our neighbors there were busy out in front of their compounds, working at small fires, preparing the heads and hooves of their Tabaski sacrifices.  Most had rams, but one family had sacrificed a cow.  No part is wasted.

To prepare the heads and hooves (trotters), the hair must be burned off, which is a slow process over a fire, turning the pieces until they are charred black.  Then the black is scraped off.

These boys were working on the cow’s skin, searing it and burning the hair.  They used rocks to keep the pieces from curling.  Every bit will be eaten.

Scraping the charred black off a hoof:

This week, in our culture, we celebrate our LDS Pioneers.  I have been imagining them crossing the plains, hunting for game or herds of buffalo, killing and preparing their meat in much the same way.

I was grateful for our simple fajita meal tonight.

Today is one of the biggest holy days in the Islamic world (second to Ramadan).  The celebrations here today are equivalent to our Christmas and Thanksgivings holidays combined.

We woke this morning to prayer calls loud and clear at 5:00 a.m.  At 8:00, the calls came again, and all of our neighbors went to the mosque across the street from our apartment for a special service.  This is a day of remembering, a day of sacrifice and a day of serving those in need.

Here is some information about the traditions of this holy day:

Traditions of Eid Al Adha (Tabaski)
Eid al-Adha lasts for three days and commemorates Ibrahim’s (Abraham) willingness to obey God by sacrificing his son.  The same story appears in the Bible and is familiar to Jews and Christians. One key difference is that Muslims believe the son was Ishmael rather than Isaac as told in the Old Testament.
According to the Quran, Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son when a voice from heaven stopped him and allowed him to make something else as a ‘great sacrifice’. In the Old Testament, it is a ram that is sacrificed instead of the son.
In Islam, Ishmael is regarded as a prophet and an ancestor of Muhammad.
During the feast of Eid Al Adha, Muslims re-enact Ibrahim’s obedience by sacrificing a cow or ram. The family will eat about a third of the meal a third goes to friends and relatives, and the remaining third is donated to the poor and needy.
The Eid al-Adha corresponds with the conclusion of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which also features the slaughtering of rams.

At 8:30 I went out on our balcony to observe the traditions of this day.  It was quiet out, almost solemn.  I thought about the men and fathers taking the role of our patriarch, Abraham, offering a sacrifice for their families.

From where I stood, on our 3rd floor deck, I could see 5 different butchering sites, with more than a dozen waiting rams.  The wait wasn’t long and I now understand what it means to go “like a lamb to the slaughter.”  The animals were calm and submissive.  It was a reverent process.  I stood, fascinated, as I watched the process unfold below me.

The words of a poem I’d read years ago, written by Carol Lynn Pearson came to mind as I watched these men making these sacrifices.

God Speaks to Abraham

Why
The almost-sacrifice?
Why the knife
Above your only son
While you wept?

Oh, Abraham,
I needed one
Who could understand.
There will be
Another lifted
On the hill
Of sacrifice.
And another Father will watch,
Will weep.

But no
Merciful angel,
No man,
Oh, none
Shall stay
Death’s had
To save
My son.

If you get queasy seeing an animal sacrificed, stop here.   I won’t go into the details.  They’re in my journal.  But here you can see what went on in family compounds all over town today.  Our next door neighbors right below us sacrificed 3 rams.  Across the street a group of men killed about a dozen.  Other groups on the street also did several.  Then the animals were prepared for the feast.

After the throats were slit, the animals were bled out, then the skinning began.  It takes about 20 minutes to skin a ram.

In the compounds, they had hooks to hang the carcasses which made the process a little easier.

The men across the street worked on a tarp on the ground.

The men worked quickly and quietly to prepare the meat for the cook fires.

Then the grills were prepared and the chunks of meat were roasted over the fire.  I think the women were all inside preparing the rest of the meal.  They serve the mutton with baguettes and side dishes.

It was a fascinating start to our day.  We are grateful to be surrounded by good religious neighbors who probably understand the meaning of sacrifice much more than we do.