Aid al-Adha - Sacrificing Sheep in US?

[dimanuni 1]

Hi, my fiance arrived last week and all is going swimmingly, lhumdullah. Now we're thinking about how we do the Aid al-Adha sheep sacrifice here in the US? Ahmed went to the mosque for the first time today, and I'm sure over time he'll figure it out from the locals, but I'm curious what the MENA group's experience has been with this? Do you guys buy your own sheep and sacrifice it? Do you find some guy at the mosque who has a farm and then pay him to sacrifice and clean and cut up the sheep and deliver it to you in tidy little packages? (That's my dream, I dread the idea of cleaning miles of sheep intestine). Do you just send money back to the home country and they buy a sheep and give it to the poor?? How much do any of these options cost?

Thanks!!

Rebecca

[AlHayatZween 2]

Do you guys buy your own sheep and sacrifice it?

i wish! Maybe depends on where you live and how much yard you have. If you own a home & a yard, i don't see why you couldn't do it yourself.

In NYC last year, we just bought from one of the halal butchers, who sold whole sheep (already slaughtered) and he would just cut it up how you wanted it. We had to order in advance though. This year we are in Louisiana where there is a lot more farmland, and i know one of the guys at the mosque has a farm and sells halal chicken and sausages and stuff. That's where we'll start asking.

Best bet is to ask at the mosque. You can probably order ahead if there is a halal food store in your area, too.

[Jenn! 918]

Yeah, best bet is to ask about it at the halal market. We usually send money to Morocco every year for his family to buy a sheep and do the whole sacrificial ritual (I don't remember exactly, but I think we send something like $250). Then for us, we just go in on one with a group of friends. They butcher it at the market and divide it up for us. Depends on how many people you go in on it with, I'm not sure how much we spend on that, maybe $50, and we get enough to make a nice big meal and then freeze the rest.

[ya falaha! 0]

My current husband just sends money to Egypt. My ex husband goes to a farm here in MI and kills a sheep himself. He usually splits it with someone else. Not sure about the cost but I'm thinking it's not too pricey. Probably around $50-$100 a piece depending on how many split the sheep.

[Cheryl & Medo 3]

We just got a sheep we just bought from one of the halal butchers. We had to go pick it out. Well Medo picked it out. I couldn't look the poor thing in the face, They skined it and gut it.

We took it home and cut it up and froze it. It was $150.00

[New Beginnings 32]

We'll go to someone's farm and probably go in on a sheep with a few people.

Ask around at the mosques!

[AlHayatZween 2]

We'll go to someone's farm and probably go in on a sheep with a few people.

Ask around at the mosques!

i hope we can do the same this year!

[bouchraluvsmbarek 0]

Hey what we do here in omaha , we all get together and cook lamb and other moroccan dishes.. Bouchra

[almaty 19]

aw f##k...no comment.. i am glad that all Muslims don't partake of this primitive custom...

[Jenn! 918]

aw f##k...no comment.. i am glad that all Muslims don't partake of this primitive custom...

Can someone explain to Dean, the vegetarian, what "no comment" means? Oh what's that you say? He's not a vegetarian?

[UmmSqueakster 54]

We go through Islamic Relief and have our udhiya done in a different country each year. For some reason, their site isn't opening up right now for me

One thing that I think is good about this "primitive" custom, especially if you do it yourself, is that it connects us with what we eat. In today's world of supermarkets, where meat comes in precleaned indistinguishable chunks, it's easy to lose the sense that what we're eating was once a living and breathing creature that we have been given for our sustinance. When we see them alive, we can be thankful for the sacrifice and the blessings.

I've been thinking a lot about our seperation from the agrarian lifestyle, and I guess this just fits right in. Of course, being a farmer wasn't easy or fun (as I've learned from hearing my dad and his siblings talk about life growing up on the farm). It was a lot of hard work, and when you experience part of it, it can make you more grateful for what you have.

Edited October 13, 2009 by UmmSqueakster

[morocco4ever 63]

aw f##k...no comment.. i am glad that all Muslims don't partake of this primitive custom...

Can someone explain to Dean, the vegetarian, what "no comment" means? Oh what's that you say? He's not a vegetarian?

He's not? Then how does brother Dean partake of meat if someone hasn't slaughtered it?

[star_dragon 0]

aw f##k...no comment.. i am glad that all Muslims don't partake of this primitive custom...

It's a sheep, not a burro!

[Sandrila 1]

I was in Maroc this time they celebrated this EID.

One minute you hear the goat/sheep bleating and thumping upstairs....next thing you know....silence of the lambs complete with skins, intestines and carcases hanging about on the terrace.

Hubby and I BOTH are not lamb lovers, even the smell makes us a little ill so he was not interested in getting up to see what was going on. I was curious, I did get up and it was a brand new day chopped full with all kinds of lamb pieces, hearts and livers included roasting on the grill.

It was an experience to see the thousands of sheep EVERYWHERE oblivious (or possibly aware) of their impending sacrifice.

Edited October 13, 2009 by Sandrila

[dimanuni 1]

Thanks a lot guys. Those are some great ideas. I really like the idea of Islamic Relief. So maybe we'll do that, and then also, insha allah, get together with some other Moroccans in Omaha (Bouchra!!) and eat delicious Moroccan food.

We're having our wedding celebration on December 5, so we're also going to investigate getting the sheep from the butcher and giving it to the reception place so the guy can make BBQ out of it! Insha allah!

Thanks again!

Rebecca and Ahmed