Tabaski (Eid al-Adha/Eid al-Kebir): The most important Muslim holy day. Tabaski commemorates the prophet Abraham, who would have sacrificed his son Ismael at God’s command had God not produced a sacrificial ram instead. Every household must slaughter a ram to mark this occasion.
A chicken in every pot….
Over the past month or so a crescendo of mouton has been building in Dakar. The site of sheep is certainly not uncommon- I often see them on my Sunday morning runs as they are washed to gleaming white perfection by their domesticators. Kind of like the family dog.
A common site on the road into Dakar, but it would appear that the number of mouton commuters has grown exponentially as of late…
In case you have been living under a rock (or you just don’t live in a Muslim country), the holiday known as Tabaski is next week (forecasted to be Wednesday- remember Islam follows the lunar calendar). As I make my way around town there are plenty of sheep occupying street corners, chewing on cardboard or whatever is lying around in blissful cluelessness. I would even go so far to say that there are more sheep than phone card vendors in the country’s capital at the moment…
Enjoy your last weekend, friends…
I was walking up the marble interior steps of my building the other day when I heard a deep throated bray over the sound of my TAL podcast. Clop clop clop went the growing noise as I nearly collided with a healthy-sized Tabaski plat de résistance being led into one of the apartments. I didn’t give it a second thought- but the unindoctrinated Westerner surely would have- and for this reason I wished I had a camera on me to document this typically Senegalese practice.
I don’t think President Wade will be pardoning any of you.
The timing of Tabaski happens to be generally coinciding with Thanksgiving this year. Of course one holiday is secular and the other is on the very other end of the spectrum, but you can still draw some similarities. I found a great article on this subject while doing some Googling in order to make myself sound smart. For those of you who don’t feel like clicking and reading, I will tell you one fun fact about Tabaski- after morning prayers and the slaughter of all these sheep are completed, it is tradition that Muslim families bring pieces of mutton over to their Christian neighbors. A reciprocation takes place at Christmas. Any of you who think that these two religions are incompatible need to come to Senegal and take a look around. Sharing, piety and mutual respect are the currency of this society.
Walking to class I was passed by this flock of sheep out for an afternoon snack. My classmates thought it was funny when I said in English, “Hi sheep! We’re gonna eat you!”
So next week should be interesting. As the holiday draws closer the price of dinner will undoubtedly rise for families who still haven’t secured their sacrificial rams. I am told that sheep can run as much as 70,000F CFA (that’s about 140 dollars) so indeed not everyone will afford this luxury (some settle for something smaller like a goat- or maybe even less). It’s not a leap to say that what a family has on their holiday table can turn into a status symbol…or lack thereof.
One thing is for sure, come Thursday morning Dakar is going to be eerily empty.