Just recently we celebrated the last major holiday of the Muslim festive season. The name of the holiday is Buckra Eid or "Goat Eid." It is celebrated in remembrance of the great patriarch Abraham (or Hazarat Ibrahim) and his willingness to sacrifice his only son to God out of obedience to God's request.
On our days leading up to the holiday we got to hear the full story from our language helper in Urdu. It was very exciting to learn words that have such meaning to them. We learned about the "korbani" or sacrifice and how God provided the ram for the sacrifice on that day. This is why they kill a goat on this day.
The sacrifice is done in a particular way ("halal") and is very expensive considering that the average price of a goat is around $140-180. The meat is then dispersed among the family as everyone gathers to eat. It is a special time that everyone is off of work and can gather to eat meat (also uncommon) for 2 to 3 days. In many ways it reminds me of Thanksgiving.
I also discovered that this is the same day that many lucky Muslims go to Mecca and complete the Hajj. This is an extremely expensive trip to Saudi Arabia where all Muslims walk around the black rock where Muhammad first started their religion. Only a few of the billion or so adherents are able to go each year. This is hard because it is one of the 5 major pillars of their religion that all are expected to fulfill in their lifetime.
A group I took a picture of before prayer.
The night before Buckra Eid was spent by many preparing gifts and new clothes for the event. You could hear the excitement and rush all over town. I went out to get some basic foods for us because the markets would be closed for 3 days. The main street was completely packed out at night because so many people were traveling it. All night we heard people traveling to the market to get a last minute thing or two. This reminded me of Christmas.
Just look at the amount of prayer hats on this special morning- EVERYONE goes to prayer on this day.
A few young men after prayer on the roof.
This group gathered because I was lost trying to find my friend's house.
I decided to go from there to spend the rest of the day with my friend and his extended family because they were gathered for the sacrifice at a nearby location. When I arrived they gave me some sweets to start the celebration which a ate because I began to feel hungry. Then we went downstairs to a tight room with all the brothers around me. Then the slaughter began...
(If you can't stomach the details, this next paragraph may not be for you).
The first goat I thought I was ready for. The children had the job of holding the animal down (yea this is how they break them in). They had hired a man specifically for the purpose of killing the animals making it a pure "halal" cut. I was tense for the event although everyone else was cutting up (no pun intended) and making jokes. To them, this was just another holiday. I was sweating profusely. Then when they slit its throat all of my insides started to churn. I got lightheaded and then the room began to spin. The man next to me asked "Are you alright?" I said I was fine but everyone knew that I wasn't. They scrambled to get a chair for me and I sat down. The next one was crying out as the blood spilt, gurgling even. It sprayed everywhere. My head was pounding along with my heart. After each one they would shout out "bismi Allah" which means "God is merciful".
I know that to them this was not a sacrifice for sin but because God had commanded them (as was Abraham's). But each time the animal was killed, it reminded me of the Gospel and the blood Jesus spilt for us. I felt like a bystander at the cross. I also thought of the Old testament animal sacrifices. It made me sick at my stomach and reminded me of how much God hates our sin. I was praying and thanking God for His grace while still feeling sick. I imagined how Jesus must have felt to be mocked by so many while he hung on the cross. I was silently praising God and praying for my friends.
Then someone turned on a fan and brought me a sprite bottle. It was really just what I needed. I appreciated their kindness. They asked me if I was alright and I told them that I was getting better. I started to cool down and calm down.
As much as I wanted to stay for the food, I really needed to get back and get Kristen. Everyone was telling me that the food would be ready soon, but I did not believe them. So I drove 30 minutes back into town and got her. By the time we got everything together and got back to the small house most of the family had cleared out. I thought there had to be plenty of left overs, but for some reason they did not cook all of the meat (they must have planned to keep some for the next day). So we ended up eating the leftovers. It did not look or taste good. Kristen didn't know it but I told her that they had served us the liver. She quickly put the piece she had back in the main pot discreetly. I thought to myself, "great, I get to see all the blood but no meat!" After trying to stomach some of the food we sat back to talk to the family that was still left.
I saw this guy on the way to pick up Kristen and Elijah - 6 family members on one bike!- only in India!
As much as I wanted to talk about the experience, I cannot talk at all to the father of our host family about these type of subjects yet. He does not speak english and my Hindi is too little. He often misinterprets simple words that I say. But his brother from Delhi has excellent english. I brought up the subject while we sat on the floor together. I asked about the meaning of the event and it ended up mostly in the direction of what the 5 pillars of Islam are. It was an alright talk until he began to criticize my religion. That is when I decided it was not appropriate at the time to talk about these things. Then we went on the roof to fly a kite before saying goodbye. We thanked them for letting us come and went home.
Day 2
When we were asked by our dohbi (clothes washer) to help his family buy a goat I was a bit hessitant. Yes this is a very expensive investment to buy and just throw away, but also I was a little fuzzy on its meaning. I later got clarification that this was not necessarily viewed as a sacrifice but actually mostly for commemorative purposes. It was expensive and I wanted to make sure that if I paid for it that the money was only going to this, and not used elsewhere. Anyhow I got assurance that this was all that the money was going for and I bought them a goat.
His entire family was so thankful. They were so happy that they were getting to participate in the festivities. This may have been the first time that they had eaten meat in months.
Check out that face! It's like he knows what's coming.
Finally the men went outside and killed the animal in the open air. This time I was ready and there was lots of air to breathe. After all the times it had played in my head over and over the day before, I was not as affected by the kill. Immediately afterward I was brought a cold drink. I could not believe that this one goat was to be enough meat for the entire family (plus some friends), considering the previous day 3 goats were killed for the same amount of people.
Next we were escorted to the nephew's house who owns a sweets shop nearby. He has very kind and genuine persona, much like his Uncle. They offered us snacks and even made us coffee somehow. They rent a room an old building that is very unique in architecture. It once had another purpose, but now is quite rundown. We then went back to the dohbi's house and ate some of the meat. It was very good and they even gave us some to take home. We pray that our kindness would influence this family for the good. We were greatful to participate in another important holiday.
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