The Sacrifice

First of all, I have to apologise for my long absence. I had a wonderful week break from school that I spent travelling around Morocco with an American friend, and as I sent her off to Minnesota, to the cold and the snow, I welcomed my aunt, uncle, and cousins for a weeklong visit. Now that everyone has left, and schoolwork has been caught up on, I can finally devote some time to blogging!

Eid al-Adha is the Islamic holiday that commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael. Weeks before, Anne and I had accompanied our family to a farm to pick out a ram for the holiday, but sadly, as the date drew nearer, we realized that both of us would be away from home for the actual holiday. Anne would be in Germany, and I would be in the Sahara with my friend. Both of us were very disheartened.

However, as luck would have it, one of my directors is actually from the Sahara region that Lisa and I would be visiting, and he invited us to spend Eid with his family. So, on Wednesday morning, Lisa and I woke to a wonderful breakfast overlooking the Saharan dunes, and then drove to Rissani to witness the sacrifice.

Every Muslim family, if they can financially afford it, is supposed to purchase and sacrifice a ram on this day. As we drove we saw rams being dragged, carted, and motorcycled to their fate. Like they had some sort of sixth sense, the rams seemed especially stubborn to do as they were told.

We learned that Eid in small villages has stayed very traditional. It is a community holiday, a holiday meant to bring friends and family together. Above all else, it is supposed to be a holiday of sharing. It is not permitted to sell any part of the ram, and a family should donate part of their ram to a family that cannot afford their own. To begin the custom a holy man first says a prayer, and then the sacrificing can begin. If a family does not know how to sacrifice their own, the holy man will perform the sacrifice himself.

The ram's feet were tied, and several men held the struggling animal on his back on the dusty ground. The man with the knife gripped the ram's head and ran the knife across its throat. Blood gurgled out, staining the hard, dry ground red. The men backed away quickly, as the ram struggled to breath. He gave a large thrust of his body, actually moving several feet to the side, and spraying blood everywhere. Then he lay motionless, defeated. It was the first time I had ever watched an animal die.

Immediately after, the body is strung up by a hind leg, and the head is cut off. The men in the family begin to undress the sheep, peeling its skin off in one piece, like pulling off a sweater. In fact, it reminded me greatly of how my parents used to say "skin the bunny" when they would change my clothes when I was little-only it seemed more morbid this time around. The women burned the head and feet. Every part of the ram would be used in some way or another.

After the skin was taken off, sprinkled with salt, and left in the sun to dry, they cut open the sheep. Organs poured out. As the family disected the animal, I wished I had paid better attention in biology lab. Organs were cleaned with water and separated into different basins, depending on how they would be used.

When the work was done, we had tea and cookies, and shortly after, we were brought ram skewers hot off the grill. The family sat around talking and joking. This is the holiday everyone comes home for. Neighbors are constantly stop by, and the family is so large it is hard to keep everyone straight.

Lisa and I voyaged into the desert by camel to camp that night, but everyone else in those villages was staying up late ,munching on ram, visiting friends, and laughing with family.