Before coming to Bulgaria
I recently spent Eid al-Adha in my favorite little Bulgarian Muslim village, Gorno Dryanovo. Also known as the “Feast of Sacrifice,” Eid al-Adha commemorates Abraham’s faith and devotion to God. According to Muslim belief, God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son. Despite loving his son, Abraham’s faith and devotion to God was so strong that he agreed to such a sacrifice. Abraham’s obedience to God was rewarded and God spared Abraham’s son’s life, allowing for a lamb to be sacrificed instead.
Eid al-Adha (Bayram) traditions vary slightly from place to place, but, in Gorno Dryanovo, Bayram combines aspects of Halloween (kids go from house to house collecting sweets and small gifts), Thanksgiving (there is a feast – a feast which the more fortunate in the community give thanks for by sharing their blessings with the less fortunate), and Christmas (first and foremost, this is a religious holiday). To be able to share in this experience as a non-Muslim was pretty special.
Within minutes of arriving, we witnessed a lamb being "sacrificed." Walking around, we saw perhaps a half-dozen similar spectacles. Typically performed in barns, the killings were often done in front of other animals - sheep, horses, cows - all of which were visibly distressed. From start to finish, the whole thing takes about 40 minutes. Interestingly, only 20 to 25 men in the village actually perform the killings; most people can't stand the sight of all the blood and guts. Surprisingly, none of that bothered me. The smell, however, did get to me in one particularly confined space.
Some kids helped with the slaughter. Others witnessed it while walking around collecting sweets. None of them seemed phased in the least.
Sheep intestines are between seventeen and twenty four meters long.
I assume this is the stomach.
Whatever it is, it was full of grass.
This is where the smell got to me.
This probably wouldn't fly in America.
Even without witnessing the slaughter, it would have been a great weekend. Here are some shots from and around the village.
I know this is an old post but I found it whilst googling for "sunflowers in Bulgaria" - am planning a trip there, you see. Being a Muslim, naturally this post caught my eye. The part where they slaughtered an animal in front of other animals and you noted that the other animals were visibly distressed...it made me sad to read that because the requirements of slaughter clearly state that every effort should be made to ensure that animals are not slaughtered in the presence of other live animals. This includes not just seeing but hearing the animal being slaughtered.
ReplyDeleteAnother requirement is also that the knife be concealed from the sight of the animal being slaughtered, as much as possible, until the very last moment, to minimise distress. Even though it may not seem like it, since we slit their throats when they are fully conscious and all, Islam is very gentle, loving and kind to animals - whether they are potentially food or otherwise. Therefore it's disheartening for me to know that Muslims are neglecting basic ethics and not just any ethics but that coming from God Himself.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to rant. Just wanted to put it out there that Islam is unfortunately/fortunately not what Muslims do.
- Sarrah