Preparations For The Feast Of Sacrifice Holiday

A couple of weeks before Eid al-Adha (the Feast of Sacrifice) last year, I had a visitor who arrived in the late evening. After picking her up from the airport we went straight home. The next day when we were having breakfast, she asked me about the sound she had heard in the early morning hours. I was impressed by how diplomatic she was in saying the “sound” she had heard in the early morning, rather than the “noise.” On that first day, my guest was curious about many things, such as animals being hauled around in trucks and one or two tied to a pole…


A major Islamic holiday is coming up and many are making their travel plans early. Don't delay in making reservations if you plan to travel during this holiday. Noon on Friday, Oct. 3 (arife) is the start of the celebration and it lasts for another four days. The first full day is Oct. 4 and it ends on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 7. Most offices and all banks will be closed. Tickets for travel during this time will be sold out early, so don't be caught out!

The Muslim holiday is known as Eid al-Adha, (also known as Id-ul-Azha, Id-ul-Zuha, Hari Raya Haji or Bakr-id), the Feast of Sacrifice, and in Turkey it is Kurban Bayramı. This holiday is the most important feast of the Muslim calendar. It marks the conclusion of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and commemorates Ibraham's (Abraham) willingness to obey God by sacrificing his son. I will explain more about this in another piece.

Relatives and friends go out in groups to welcome a person back from the pilgrimage to Mecca. You will begin to notice people dressed in white garments and at the airports there may be crowds gathered around them. You'll also notice lots of livestock around and people looking at it. Families are shopping for the animal they would like to purchase to sacrifice.
You may wonder about those families who can't afford to purchase an animal to sacrifice. In the days before the Feast of Sacrifice, Turkish aid associations and charities will be providing food and assistance to thousands and thousands of families in Turkey and in other Muslim countries. A very well known one is Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There).

The animal prices vary some from dealer to dealer based on your location, as they all want the sale. A Turkish friend of mine told me that last year when he went to his local hayvan pazarı (animal market), which opens a month before Kurban Bayramı, the price of sheep started at about TL 400 and went up to about TL 750. Of course, the price of a cow is more variable, as weight and size are factors. A calf can start at about TL 1,400 and can cost nearly TL 3,000. Large steers can sell for as much as TL 5,000 or more.

Meat is an expensive dish to eat in Turkey. Perhaps you have noticed that Turks are very clever in their cooking techniques, making a kilo of meat go a long way!

According to a Turkish Statistics Institution (TurkStat) 2012 report, the price of calves (culture cattle) was TL 2,260 in 2011, an increase of 16.6 percent compared to the previous year and the price of calves (domestic) increased by 46.6 percent, reaching TL 1,680. Sheep and goat prices increased by as much as 25.9 percent. There has been concern about the availability of livestock and increasing meat prices. It is believed that a Muslim in Turkey typically needs to spend around TL 650 (just over $ 300) to purchase a sheep or a goat for sacrifice.

Wealthy families usually purchase and sacrifice a bull. Other families save to buy a sheep. Poor families may group together and share the cost of a sheep. In this day and age, a sheep can even be bought and paid for in monthly installments or by credit card!

You will start noticing these animal markets soon in your neighborhood. Even if you don't see the place, you will get a whiff from that direction and it'll make you think you are in Kansas or Oklahoma at the rodeo!

Another tip to remember along with making your reservations for travel soon is to stock up on groceries early unless you like shopping in crowds. As the holiday nears, you will find it is like the days before Christmas back home and last minute shoppers will be crowding the tour agency offices, animal bazaars and supermarkets to make their purchases. You will also notice an increasing number of gas-guzzling trucks on the road transporting those animals that used to graze upon the land.

CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON (Cihan/Today's Zaman)