Morocco Eid Al-Kabir

Eid Al-Adha, called in Morocco Eid Al-Kabir, refers to ‘The Great Eid’ and is a famous and religious festival that is celebrated all over the Islamic world. It is celebrated on the tenth of Dhou Al-hijja each lunar year of the Islamic calendar.

Religiously speaking, the root of this festival goes back to Abramham, who is deemed the father of all the Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Abraham saw in a dream God reveling to him that he should sacrifice his son Ishmael. He took his son to the mountain far from his mother so as to achieve God’s promise. As soon as Abraham put the knife on his son’s neck to slaughter him, God called him loudly from the seventh sky to take back his command. Then, God substituted Ishmael with a sheep. In Christianity and Judaism, Abraham’s son who would have been slaughtered was Isaac. Anyhow, this was just short summary of the story behind the Great Eid that is to be celebrated in the next few days.

The sacrifice is Sunna of the Prophet Mohammed. It was legitimated by God, through the Prophet, as an offer for forgiveness of sins and for getting closer to God’s mercy. The sacrifice is not circumscribed to just sheep, as the majority of people understand. However, the sacrifice is of Halal animals more broadly, that can be slaughtered on the Great Eid in order to approach the Almighty God. It must be done under certain conditions and at a specific time and place. Therefore, it should be kept in mind that the sheep is not the only animal that can be slaughtered in the Great Eid; other animals too, such as the camel, cow, and goat can be sacrificed. Thus, there is no requirement to perform the Eid only with sheep; other choices are religiously and economically acceptable. All of them have one result: to bring closeness to God.

In Morocco, the Great Eid has taken social, economic, and customary dimensions. When the Eid draws near its fixed day, families and individuals start seeking the suitable sheep to sacrifice. Despite the fact that the slaughter is not mandatory upon those who cannot come up with the money for it, several poor families borrow money in order to buy a sheep or goat for the Eid.

In the Moroccan cities sheep is the most common animal that is slaughtered, while in the villages the goat is the animal that is most commonly slaughtered. In the morning of the Great Eid, Muslims dress up their Jellaba and Jabador or put on the best attire available, and they go to the mosque or to the Mussala (an open-air space outside the cities and villages) in order to make the prayer of Eid.

After they pray, they perform the sacrifice ritual. In the evening of the Eid, families visit each other. The Great Eid is the day of happiness when families have various ways of cooking delicious dishes of meat based on their traditions. This religious holiday goes on for three days.

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