5 Disgusting Facts about Eid al-Adha: Revealing the dark side of the Festival of Sacrifice
Eid al-Adha is one of the two main celebrations in Islam, another being, Eid al-Fitr which is celebrated to mark the end of “holy” Ramadan. You may read this WikiPedia article to know more about its history. These celebratory events seemingly look delightful but both of the festivals have their darker sides. Eating or drinking in public becomes illegal for a month during Ramadan before this “Sweet Eid” celebration happens in Muslim countries. This “holy month” is turned into a living nightmare for minorities and those with medical conditions. Now, let’s get to know how this Islamic ritual becomes a nuisance, and safety and health risk for the public.
Disclaimer: This blog post contains sensitive and graphic content which some individuals may find disturbing. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The following information is factually correct for Pakistan, where I live, and several other Islamic states including Algeria, Bangladesh and Egypt, etc. Although all the Muslims slay animals, the situation could be slightly better in developed Islamic states due to stricter regulations.
1. Stinky Cattle Poop: Densely populated metropolitan areas are turned into cattle markets 10 days before the festival begins. The local authorities officially have banned cattle trading except for designated spots, but incapable and corrupt officers have a hard time enforcing the laws. Consequently, we have to see and smell stinky animal feces everywhere for days.
As Eid gets closer, each street coroner becomes chaotic because Muslims bring their sacrificial animals home a few days earlier, mainly for ‘showoff’ purpose. Streets, markets and parks begin to stink with animal litter. Seeing heaps of piled up garbage is a common thing in Pakistan and the sanitation crisis becomes even worse during the feast of sacrifice.
2. Deadly Animal Attacks: Traveling on roads become more dangerous during Eid al-Adha in Pakistan. A video of a runaway bull colliding with an oncoming car has gone viral. It happened recently in Rawalpindi when a Muslim man was overpowered by his sacrificial animal. The bull started running on a busy urban highway in a desperate attempt to escape but ended up crashing into a car.
The poor animal was killed on the spot and the car driver suffered critical head injuries. A similar incident had happened last year when an angry bull stormed into a medical diagnostic center killing at least one person injuring others including a child.
Sacrificial animals brought into cities are mostly raised in remote areas and they get agitated in crowded urban streets. Furthermore, average city dwellers don’t have any experience of handling these animals. They also escape when Muslims try to butcher them. Dozens of incidents involving runaway cattle cause personal injuries and damage to property every year.
3. Contagious Diseases: Slaughtering animals and dumping their waste in the streets is a perfect recipe for disaster. Congo virus is transmitted to people either by tick bites or through contact with infected animal blood during slaughter. Parasitic ticks thrive in unhygienic animal farms. Gathering a crowd near roadside cattle markets increases the risk of virus carrier tick bites.
Also, the majority of Muslims, including the educated ones, don’t bother to wear a protective face shield and gloves while slaughtering sacrificial cattle. If the animal is infested with CCHF, its blood has the potential to transmit the virus into humans. Dumping animals’ offals and intestines in the streets also create another serious health hazard. Rotting animal waste doesn’t just become a public nuisance but it also is potentially known to cause different acute and chronic diseases.
Bio-aerosols from decomposing animal waste contain endotoxins which can cause serious respiratory problems. The rotting offals become the breeding site of rodents, flies and mosquitos potentially known for transmitting different viral diseases into humans. Even when the waste is collected, streets, trash containers and garbage trucks continue to stink for weeks after this bloody festival is over.
4. Health Problems: Aggressive meat consumption can result in serious illness requiring hospitalization. Nutrition experts suggest that one shouldn’t eat more than 200 grams of red meat in a day. But Muslims won’t listen to the expert advice assuming that eating sacrificial animal’s meat makes them immune to health problems.
In 2018, over 3000 patients were treated for food poisoning during Eid only in PIMS, Islamabad’s central hospital. The majority of Pakistanis own a refrigerator with freezer but they don’t know the basics of safety rules for frozen food storage. They store meat in freezers for months which could go bad when power outage causes frozen meat to thaw. Excessive use of meat over a short time may also exacerbate cholesterol and hypertension problems in some individuals.
5. Islamist Financing: In 2018, around 10 million animals were slaughtered and hides worth 6.5 billion Pakistani Rupees were traded during Eid. The collection of cattle hides is a profitable business. Islamic scholars advise the Muslims to donate their sacrificial hide for a “good purpose”. Although some charity organizations genuinely helping underprivileged people also get benefited, yet conservative Muslims are more inclined towards religious organizations
All the Islamic terrorist organizations, including Al-Qaida and Taliban supporters, and those fueling insurgency in Indian-Administered Kashmir were freely allowed to collect animal hides a few years ago. Now the government has officially banned some terrorist organization to operate in Pakistan so they have to work underground to collect animal hides. Nevertheless, those hardline Islamists who actively support inhumane controversial blasphemy laws are still allowed to continue their activities and receive public donations including animal hides during Eid al-Adha. This way they can generate a handsome amount of revenue which is mostly spend on converting average Muslims into radical Islamists shaping an intolerant society.
This insane tradition badly needs reforms. Slaughter of animals in the streets should be outlawed with harsher fines imposed. The authorities could designate some points for slaying animals outside city areas. Young children should not be allowed to witness this bloody disgusting ritual. Restricting extremist religious organization is the need of the hour. People also need to stop funding those groups responsible for spewing hate in society.
