Eid al-Adha, a sacrifice for Muslims in times of crisis

Inflation and the global rise in prices resulting from the war in Ukraine have weighed down this year's Eid al-Adha or Feast of Sacrifice, leaving many Muslims in the Middle East unable to afford to buy a lamb or even meat to remember how the Prophet Abraham offered his firstborn son to God.

After two years of limited celebrations due to the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis, this year's Eid has represented a real sacrifice for millions of Muslims in the region.

In some Middle Eastern countries, especially those dependent on meat imports, the population has once again suffered the consequences of a crisis that has been dragging on since 2020 and has dampened the festive spirit of the season.

THE SACRIFICE OF YEMENIS

"We can't afford it (the slaughter), we came just to look and take some pictures with the sheep," Ghaleb al-Dhamari, a 40-year-old Yemeni man wandering through a market in Sana'a with his wife and three children, told Efe.

Al Dhamari complains that "prices have gone up a lot" and that he cannot afford to pay the 90,000 Yemeni rials (about $150) for the slaughter of a sheep, already one of the most affordable animals.

Mohamed Ali was another Yemeni who left the market empty-handed because of the rising cost of livestock, and tells Efe that he will buy two kilos of lamb for his family, something he says many of his colleagues will also do because of the impossibility of buying an animal in this country devastated by a war that began in 2014.

EGYPTIANS TIGHTEN THEIR BELTS

In Egypt, the most populous Arab country, the crisis and the collapse of the local currency have forced many to tighten their belts, as is the case of Mohamed Said Rashad, a 40-year-old owner of a photography studio in Cairo.

He told Efe that before the crisis he worked as a volunteer in an association where they slaughtered animals for Eid and distributed the meat to the poor, but this year "participation has dropped significantly" because "there are many difficulties due to the commitments they (people) have in life and their current situation".

"This year, with the significant increase in prices, I was only able to participate in the slaughter of one lamb, which will affect the amount of meat we will give to the poor, and what will be left for the family as well," he laments.

Mohamed al Wageh, a 41-year-old butcher, says that a kilo of lamb used to cost between 60 and 75 Egyptian pounds (about 3 to 4 dollars), while this year it has risen to between 80 and 105 (between 4.20 and 5.50 dollars), adding that sales have decreased by 20 per cent this holiday.

LEBANON LOSES ITS FESTIVE SPIRIT

Sitting in front of his clothes shop in a popular Beirut market, Ali told Efe that visiting his uncles, giving sweets to loved ones and occasionally killing a goat is now a thing of the past: "We don't have the feeling of Eid because of the situation," he said.

Nearly 80 per cent of Lebanese live in poverty due to the impact of the severe economic crisis that began in late 2019 in the Mediterranean country, where prices are continuously on the rise, commodities such as fuel are in short supply and the local currency has lost more than 90 per cent of its value.

"Thank God, at least we have health in our bodies," Ali said from his chair.

IRAQ'S CRISES

Mohamed al-Tamimi, a cattle dealer in northwest Baghdad, tells Efe that he expected to have many customers for the holidays, but the rise in lamb prices - which this year are between $150 and $550 - has hit his business hard.

In his opinion, this increase in the price of meat is due to "the lack of government supervision" and speculation by sellers, while he also blames "the period of drought that hit Iraq hard and caused a significant reduction in livestock this year".

For his part, Raad Shaker, 45, tells Efe from the market that he and his wife had intended to slaughter two lambs for this Eid, but were surprised by the exorbitant prices.

"That forced us to recalculate and take the decision to buy just one lamb, which cost us 350,000 Iraqi dinars (about $239). It's too high a price for many people," he says.