Meaty Affair
It's my sixth day away from home. Eid festivities have ended and I finally got some time to open my laptop and catch up on Steem. I was a little disappointed to see the big dip. The past couple of months were terrific in terms of stability. Despite the warnings from crypto experts, I bought a significant amount of steem and thinking whether I should buy more. I'm tempted to, but my risk tolerance is low.
Coming to life offline, we were at my inlaws for Eid-ul-Adha - the most awaited religious affair of the year in our family. My father-in-law bought two goats a couple of weeks before Eid, one for him and one for us.
I have always had more fun on Eid-ul-Fitr because it's all about celebration - meeting friends and family and eating delicious desserts. Whereas, Eid-ul-Adha is all about meat. There's hardly any time for anything else. Slaughtering and meat cutting are done by the males of the family and the hired butcher. Then comes our part of making packets for distribution. After distributing two portions, we clean and store the remaining meat. Meanwhile, lunch preps are also done which is usually a dish of the fresh meat.
Jumping on the nostalgic train again, I used to leave home early on Eid mornings and come back home late in the afternoon, making sure that I didn't get to see the slaughtering or even listen to any sounds. I used to get so attached to the sacrificial animal. My dad used to bring them home two weeks before Eid and I took them to the nearby bushes for grazing every single day. Sometimes, 2 or 3 friends would join me with their goats and sheep. After such hangouts, attachment was a given.
The purpose of this Eid is to promote the spirit of sacrifice, charity, and empathy towards those who are less fortunate. I knew it as a kid but with time, I learned it.
Back then, I used to get ready right after breakfast and visit every friend in our little community on my bicycle. For the last few years, I haven't had time to dress up or it's just too hot that it feels like a burden. This year wasn't going to be any different but then I changed into Eid clothes and stayed in them for like an hour and even took a selfie for the record.
Soon, it was time for dinner, so I had to change back into comfortable clothes. Men took charge of the grill while I cooked chapli kebabs. There was no initial plan of barbecue because of the heat and suffocating weather but few members of the family still wanted to do it. Burning coals didn't take long to turn the whole house as if it were a hot oven. I realized crackling fire and flying embers only soothe you in winters (even mentally). Anyhoo, we got to eat yummiest barbecue with gallons of chilled coke (to beat the heat).
It was hectic and hot but the first day of Eid ended well.
Somehow I had not paid attention until now to the fact that any animal that is slaughtered to be eaten on certain holidays is actually a sacrificial animal. Perhaps because in Christianity this thing does not exist, but is actually practiced. And when, after the pandemic, I learned that a Christian priest in my grandparent's village performed a sacrifice ritual to stop the high mortality of the residents, I realized that nowadays the lines between different religions continue to blur, as well as between religions and paganism.
I'm definitely not into that part, I don't understand things that way - that something has to die for something else. But what you are talking about, your traditions, they are something much deeper than that, they even bring some comfort in their traditionality and it is something that I have never experienced myself. Perhaps this is the power of religion, which I have always perceived as cohesion, connection and cooperation with yourself, with others and with God. And this happens and takes place most vividly and especially on such holidays.
I don't have adequate knowledge about other religions but in Islam, such sacrifices/slaughters are performed to feed those in need. I already wrote the purpose of this Eid...
The world sees it as a mass-slaughter and cruelty and whatnot. But it's not. 74% of world population eats both veg and non-veg food and Muslim population is only 24% among which there are many who are vegetarian. I know you are not implying that but it's a hot topic that surfaces on social media during this Eid. It's much more than "something dying for something else...". Much deeper, like you said.
I don't know how the world sees this. Perhaps it was unwise of me to express free thoughts on matters which were not clear to me. But hey, I don't know if other religions hold similar events with others in mind, "those who are less fortunate". This is really something big. (But apparently I don't know anything anyway.)
Oh no. I'm not complaining to you. Only sharing how this tradition is sometimes wrongly interpreted whereas it's peformed only for nobel reasons.
I prefer raw thoughts. (:
I'm busy at the moment. I will get back later. But I wanted to explain this point. Actually it's not about the dying part. The sacrifice is for distributing meat amongst needy. That's the main purpose of this Eid here.
That's what I said - "it's much deeper than this"😊
Thanks for the clarification! I'm pretty ignorant about religion in general, I'm just speaking on intuition.
TEAM 5
One of the sunnahs that is almost completely forgotten is breaking your fast in the morning by eating your sacrificial animal's meat Lekin Kya karen humara toh qasayi time par nahi aata qasayi ajaye toh gas nahi hai, gas hai toh bijli nahi hai 🤣🤣
Hmara qasai masjid k bahir he khara wait kr raha tha according to my husband. Qurbani time pe hogae and luckily gas bhi aa rahi thi tou breakfast mein kaleji khai kuch logon ne. 😛
That's wonderful. You're the first person I'm hearing this from and trust me I'm soo happy that I know someone who actually followed this very important sunnah
I didn't but my family did. ((:
Also men ye kaafi time sochta hu. Ye qasayi Eid ki namaz nahi parhte Kya. I mean, yaha Eid ki namaz 6 baje thi. Fajr ka time 5:42 ish tak khatam hota hai, Eid ke khutbe men hi 15-20 minutes lagte hain, toh ye qasayi Eid ki namaz kab aor kidher parhte hain 👀 xD
I have no idea. I think hmaray walay ne parhi thi. 😅
How much I enjoyed reading this post of yours! Someone might say and interpret that it's because you are my friend, but then everyone we communicate with on Steemit on an almost weekly basis becomes a friend, a pen-pal. I truly enjoyed reading this post.
The barbecue part made me a little sympathetic towards the grill handlers. But I guess this Eid is all about work, chaos, loud voices (at least at my parents'), and all the hustle and bustle.
P.S: I really liked your photo from 2000s. So cute 🥰
That's so kind of you.
None of the females were keen on the barbecue, we offered to make something in the kitchen. But men....(:
It was loud and chaotic at my inlaws too but there's no other way of celebrating Eid at a desi household. (:
TEAM 5
TEAM 5