Eid Al Adha in Morocco is not only a spiritual occasion for Muslims to commemorate Abraham’s sacrifice of a ram and therefore of a family gathering, but it is also an opportunity for followers of informal to raise a few pennies this Eid Al Adha.
Remember, however, that like last year, the celebration of this Eid Al Adha ritual takes place in a context induced by Lady Covid. Also a call for vigilance is in order, Eid corresponding to the first peak of a wave of one of the sub-variants of Omicron BA.1 which will soon be reinforced by its heir BA.5. As a recommendation, this period of Eid Al Adha should be accompanied by a range of preventive measures.
It is customary that Eid Al-Adha is the occasion for family reunions, tradition obliges and that the purchase of sheep and the ritual of sacrifice generate a strong movement of movement and gathering of people. Never mind ! like every year therefore, a few days before Eid Al Adha, during and following, several small seasonal trades corollary to the ritual of sacrifice flourish and prosper and our towns and villages change their face, the time of this festival dear to Moroccans . It’s a highlight in the life of everyone even if this year, we do not perceive for a few days, this effervescence and this atmosphere of rush which conventionally prevails at each “sheep festival”.
Also and as long as the sheep has invited itself in these times as a good topical subject, go ahead and let me improvise myself as knife sharpeners, transporters or for those who like to “speculate” sellers of coal, straw, plastic bags, cooking utensils, onions, spices, braziers and I know what else that might be used… In short, the party is total and on all levels. And it will continue even on the day of Eid and following. Some will even provide themselves with functions that the circumstances require such as occasional butchers to slaughter and skin the animals or to do the cutting when others will light fires on the street corners to clean and grill the heads of the animals sacrificed, in this daytime.
In short, with the approach of Eid Al Adha and until following, many small seasonal trades linked to the ritual of sacrifice, emerge and prosper some for a few days, others for a few hours in our boulevards and streets of our towns and villages, even in the depths of the countryside. For many, especially young people who adopt a specific profession at each event, it is a celebration of a special nature and a golden opportunity to make pocket money or fill their pockets and do good business.
Far from its religious character, Eid Al Adha, which has always had as its backdrop temporary trades which abound and which improve the daily lives of needy and non-needy families, is also an opportunity for the latter to their purchases thus and precisely giving another dimension – closed circuit – so to speak to this informal market which is created on occasion.
Eid Al Adha is not just regarding buying sheep, kid or camel… but everything that is in orbit around the beast, purchases of clothes, spices, utensils… The party is run a parallel economy by frenetically animating souks and markets and punctuating a whole host of related activities. To this end, we can cite the temporary stands and stalls set up in the working-class neighborhoods where this rite is unavoidable.
The sheep sales areas, the exhibition of all kinds of accessory products essential to the sacrifice and of high use during this festival and finally the informality that it generates through the sharpeners-grinders, the hay sellers or straw, spices, charcoal, plastic bags, cooking utensils, as well as carriers…
In history, the place of choice goes to butchers, whether they are one-day or professional, because it is a godsend for some to make a little windfall and make this particular day profitable (cutting the throat of a sheep is worth less between 150 and 250 DH) and for the others to generate significant income by cutting up and skinning the carcass before closing up shop for a few days. It’s all profit and net of taxes for all those who were willing to sacrifice the time of a sacrifice. Eid Mubarak Said!
