Tabaski

December 25, 2007

On or about Dec. 21^st this year, Muslims all around the world, including folks here, will have celebrated Tabaski. This Wolof word meaning ’sacrifice’ is the name of a religious festival that I imagine would be greatly hated by US animal rights activists, as approximately 650,000 sheep will be slaughtered for the occasion. The holiday, a.k.a. Eid al-Adha, which occurs about 70 days after the end of Ramadan (or the tenth day of the month of Dhul Hiija according to the lunar Islamic calendar, if you prefer) is a symbolic reenactment of Abraham’s (or Ilbrahim’s, depending on your point of view) sacrifice of his son Isaac (known in these parts as Ismael). As you will recall, Abraham was (however reluctantly) prepared to sacrifice his only son for love of God, but was then given a last-minute reprieve and told that he might sacrifice a sheep instead.

Hence, nowadays, every male adult head of a Muslim household who can afford to do so is required to sacrifice a male animal, preferably a sheep; the smallest costs about 50,000 CFAs or $100. If a man is the head of several households (don’t forget that polygamy is perfectly possible here), he must make a sacrifice for each one, which can put quite a strain on a budget when salaries are not much above 100,000 CFAs a month even for highly trained people such as teachers and rents and the costs of living are extremely high as well. For those of you who did not know, Dakar is considered the Paris of West Africa. According to information on the City Mayors site for 2007, Dakar is the 33^rd most expensive city in the world, right up there along with classic tourist destinations such as Athens and Amsterdam. (Given the choice, I have to confess that I personally prefer a place with sidewalks, myself…!)

Headlines in the local papers now report ‘vols de moutons’ or sheep-stealing as being on the rise; sheep are of course fetching very high prices at the moment. On many street intersections or even highway verges you can see sheep markets – collections of the animals, some beribboned - nosing in their feed bags or grazing lazily about as they wait for prospective purchasers to come inspect their teeth, etc. Some men like to purchase their sheep very early, others choose (or are forced to) wait until the last minute, hoping that they will be able to gather the necessary money.

The poor man who cannot afford to purchase an animal will be invited to share with his neighbors, but I suspect that he will not feel entirely comfortable with everyone around him only too well aware that he has been unable to fulfill this requirement to provide for his family. Up until last week, there existed a Ministry of National Solidarity which provided the less fortunate with funds to help purchase the required sheep. In a very poorly timed decision, Senegalese President Wade, a mere few days before one of the most important holy days in the Islamic calendar, has now declared this Ministry defunct, depriving 4,002 indigent families of the aid they were relying on in one fell swoop.

Now you know and I know that I have plenty more to say on this subject, but I suppose that given the banning of reggae singer Tiken Jah Fakoly because he had the temerity to call upon Wade to step down during a recent concert, serenading him with his trademark tune ‘Quitte le pouvoir,’ it might behoove me to be a bit more circumspect in my own comments! Suffice it to say that I am quite fond of the song, which you too can hear on You Tube

To return to the subject of the holiday, however, on Tabaski morning, men put on their finest boubous to go pray in the mosque while the women stay home to tend to the fire in preparation for the roast. People who meet in the streets wish each other a long life (“Daywaneti”) and ask one another’s forgiveness (”Balma-akh“). Christians are often invited to participate in the festive meal hosted by their Muslim neighbors. After prayers on the great day, the sheep are killed and roasted in accordance with halal practice (for those curious about the technical details of the slaughter, the mouths of the animals are held shut so that you cannot hear their cries and holes are dug in the ground to contain the blood. These holes are filled with sand; the hides are cured and tanned and are later used to make prayer mats).

Feasting ensues. Everyone wears new clothes (I think December must be without a doubt the busiest time for local tailors, who are extremely busy as it is, as the Senegalese attach great importance to their wardrobe) and children are given money and presents. After the meal, friends and family visit one another, decked out in their finest; children merrily collect money and preen themselves in their new outfits as well.

So as you can see, it’s just like Christmas…almost!

About the Author : Tamara-Diana Braunstein brings us her stories from Senegal every week. She was born in Brooklyn, New York. She is a restless wanderer who earned an MA from the University of Freiburg and has worked in a youth hostel in the French Alps, a law firm in Montreal, the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as in university press publishing. At the moment her home base is Dakar, Senegal, where she is supposed to be teaching but is doing far more learning, as you will see by reading her blog at www.senegalschoolmarm.blogspot.com