RABAT (Hassan Al-Ashraf, AlArabiya.net)
Banks in Morocco are preying on poor Muslims by offering loans to those who cannot afford to buy the traditional Eid sheep – a practice slammed as unnecessary and un-Islamic by Muslim scholars.
Posters of Eid Al Adha loan specials have cropped up all across Moroccan cities, offering people two-year loans up to 5,000 Moroccan dirhams (650 dollars) at 10-15% interest, which Muslim scholars say is against the religion.
Sometimes banks and lending companies do not specify the interest rate until clients contact them directly, to have a better chance of luring them in.
Journalist Abdulawi Lekhlafa said that some companies also offer raffle prizes like cars or home appliances to attract low-income Moroccans.
"In one of the posters, a sheep is holding a knife about to slaughter a man," Lekhlafa said. "This shows the degree of poverty and how people cannot afford to buy sheep."
"Another poster features 'The King of Rams,' the name Moroccans use for the perfect ram, as a way to tempt people," he added. |
 |
Sacred duty Islamic preacher and member of the Moroccan Scholars Union said many Moroccans think that buying a sheep for Eid as a scared duty, but cautioned against this viewpoint.
"Slaughtering a sheep at Eid is not compulsory in Islam. Buying sheep is for those who can afford it," Abdullah Boughouta said, adding that some people resort to loans or selling their furniture to do so.
"Those people go against religion and common sense," Boughouta warned.
According to Boughouta, the best way to address the problem is to encourage social solidarity; with the rich giving some of the meat of sheep or cows to the poor. |
|
Superstitions Moroccans also engage in superstitious rituals that have no basis in religion.
Some dip their hands in sheep's blood and then imprint bloody palms all over the walls. Others drink the blood, believing it wards off the evil eye, while still others soak a white cape in as much blood as possible and wrap it around people thought to be possessed by demons.
Some sprinkle salt along the edges of sewers where the blood is discharged or fill the sheep's mouth with salt, thinking this will expel evil spirits. Many women keep the sheep's gall bladder, believing it cures diseases.
Eid Al Adha, also called Greater Bairam or Festival of Sacrifice, commemorates the descent of a ram on Abraham at the moment when he was about sacrifice his son to God. Following his example, Muslims sacrifice a sheep, a large portion of which should be given to the poor so all Muslims can enjoy the feast.
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid) |
