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Everyone loves festivals, right? New clothes, meeting relatives, and great food. But have we ever given a second thought to our food? Where does it come from and more importantly is our two minutes of pleasure on the taste buds inflicting cruelty on someone? Festivals are often one of the worst times for these voiceless souls.
For example in the upcoming festival of Eid al-Adha, millions of animals are sacrificed which include sheep, camels, cows, and goats in the memory of Abraham sacrificing a sheep.
Cruelty to animals is strictly forbidden in Islam. The way these animals are raised, fed and transported is no less than atrocious and cannot be allowed in Islam. For example, a very cruel practice that involves camels. For their transportation these “ships of deserts” generally, they have their front legs tied up tightly and their rear legs roped together so they can’t even stand properly. Apart from this, their mouths are shut so they can’t brawl in pain. In these heinous circumstances, they are transported for long without food of water. Later then the poor animal is surrounded by a crowd of onlookers, and the scared camels are held down with ropes while someone stabs a knife in the animal’s neck giving him a slow and agonizing death. Our Muslims friends are all over the world are questioning this practice and are opting for cruelty-free options!
Some of them choose not to sacrifice the animal instead opt for something like an animal shaped cake or a mock goat. Later they celebrate the true meaning of the festival by feeding the poor and needy. Eid marks the epitome of faith as Muslims all over the world keep “Roza” (staying without food and water from dusk till dawn to feel the misery of those in need) and the further donate a percentage of their income to the poor, this added step just makes it all the more kind. They then feast with their friends with options like mock meat kebabs or soya biryani which in no way reduces the
Not only does this spread way more love but also does not harm the environment. Animal sacrifice is not only during this festival, but there are many festivals in other religions that promote this, example, Thanksgiving, and turkey, Bali in Hinduism and let us not forget the everyday mass shed of animals for top brands like KFC, McDonald’s etc. This is extremely harmful to the environment and humans need to understand that in order to survive we need to stop exploiting our mother Earth’s resources.
So this Eid let us all celebrate by sacrificing our bad habits, insecurities and whatever else that does not contribute to our betterment and spare the innocent beings instead. An Eid which would make our God truly happy and proud of us.
Eid Mubarak to all!
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