Tufani's blog: Aïd AL- ADHA

The Holiday of the Sacrifice (Aïd AL-ADHA), also known as l'Aïd Kibir (the Big Holiday) or "la Fête du Mouton" (the Sheep Holiday) falls this year the 9th of December.

If Ramadan is the holiest of the Moslim Holidays, Aïd AL-ADHA is the biggest and happiest, except , of course for the five million sheep who will be sacrificed. It sounds pretty impressive, I know, killing five million sheep in the same day...but if you think about it, how many turkeys are slaughtered in America between Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays?

Or how many beef for daily hamburgers?

The l'aïd Kibir recalls Abraham, who because of his trust in, and obeissance to God was ready to kill his son. But God stopped his hand before it could strike the youth and brought him a lamb to sacrifice instead.

For this most important of holidays, every family kills a sheep. Many families are so big that more than one sheep is bought and sacrificed.
This year Morocco has produced enough sheep themselves to supply the demand. This has not always been the case. There were years when sheep were imported for the fête.
The Sheep are on sell in open markets each one marked on the nose, or shoulder, or back, by the owner with a colorful sign of some kind, so even if the sheep mingle while waiting to be sold, each one will still know which sheep are his.

Buying a sheep is like buying a Christmas tree.
Each family wants the very nicest one possible for what they can afford.

The sheep must be sane, without blemish. The sheep sell at between 2,500dh-5,000 dh ($260-$520) and on up, of course, which considering the minimum wage is 2000.dh a month, is a hearty sum . Often to please the family, especially the children with a beautiful sheep, people go in debt.
And , as surprising as it may seem, it's not the size or weigh of the sheep that makes the difference in the price but the "head gear"! That is , the horns!
The rams with the most handsome, spiraled, pointed horns are those who are sold for the most.

Once the sheep has been chosen he becomes almost sacred. They are fed well and beds of fresh hay are made for them.
Not all families have yards or barns in which to keep the sheep until the moment it's sacrificed, so sheep are kept on balconies, in indoor patios, or in small rooms. Having a sheep in the house is the source of great excitement and distraction for the children. They pet it, feed it, "baaa " to it, come to keep it company . It becomes a special guest.
For days before the "fête", sheep can be heard bleating from one apartment or house to another.

The day of the l'Aïd begins very early for everyone. The women especially arise first and great the morning by making pastries, crêpes and tea for those awaiting breakfast . Platters of cookies ( that were made earlier in the week) are prepared already in anticipation of all the friends and family who will be passing during the day to exchange holiday greetings and share in a glass of mint tea.
They also must prepare the kitchen for all the activity it will see!!

Verses from the Coran can be heard coming from the mosques, or on radios. Sweet smelling incense fills the homes and drifts into the streets.

A special l'Aïd prayer takes place around 08:30 am, afterwhich, at the desired moment an expert and experienced hand severs the carotid artery which makes for a quick and painless death. He who kills the sheep must be a pious man. One who has been intiated in the tradition and must know the rules and prayers that accompany the act. He learns this from years of working with another pious man.

Today, it's more and more rare that in every family there is a man qualified to make the sacrifice; so many qualified butchers , make the rounds from home to home , sacrificing the rams for the sum of 150dh-200dh.

Once the sacrifice is over every bit of the sheep is recouperated and used.

As the festivites and the day advances , the women of the family join forces and set to work cleaning the sheep, the patios where it was killed, and preparing meals for those already present and those who will be passing by.

The sheep is not consumed in just any way, there is an order. For lunch on the first day brochettes are made from the heart and liver, and tajines are made with the stomach and intestines( which have of course been washed and and extra cleaned ).

NOW, before you start to wrinkle up your noses, let me say these dishes are DELICIOUS...........

Later on for the evening, couscous is made.

During the two days of the fête the women donnot stop cooking and the family and their guests donnot stop eating and drinking mint tea.

The children are given gifts for the holiday..usually new clothes which are worn for the day.

In the countryside, where refrigerators are rare to non existant, the sheep is wrapped up with a clean cloth and hung in a cool room or a shaded spot in the patio, and as the week wears on , each day a bit of the meat is cut off and used. There is also a tradition for drying bits of the ribs, and conserving them for special cous couses during the year...

In the town, people not only have refrigerators but also freezers. So they cut the meat into sections, or take it to a butcher and have him cut it up "profesionally" and take it home to freeze it.

For at least two weeks after the Sheep Holiday, no mutton can be found in any of the market places anywhere!! Not surprising, huh?

We have shared with dear friends in many, many Sheep holidays, especially when the kids were at home.

Tomorrow, however, we will be staying at home just relaxing and enjoying the silence of the city completly absorbed by the Aid Al-ADHA.

Before arriving to where the sheep are kept on the market, we pass mountains of bails of hay.

Hay to be used to make nice clean beds for the sheep, and also to feed them