This Muslim Country In Africa Has Banned Animal Sacrifice On Eid Al-Adha. Here's Why

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Muslims in Morocco will celebrate Eid al-Adha without animal sacrifice this year. Eid al-Adha, one of the two sacred days for Muslims worldwide, is also known as 'sacrifice' Eid, as animal sacrifice is one of the most important rituals in this festival.

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But Muslims in the North African nation, Morocco, will abstain from the animal sacrifice ritual due to a royal directive amid the deepening economic hardship and an agricultural crisis.

February Directive

In February, King Mohammed VI urged his fellow Moroccans not to slaughter sheep for Eid al-Adha, according to a report in the Guardian. The country is grappling with dwindling herds due to a six-year drought.

On 26 February, Morocco's minister of Islamic affairs, Ahmed Toufiq, read a letter on the monarch's behalf on the state-run Al Aoula TV channel. The letter cited economic hardship and the climate crisis as reasons for the rising prices of livestock and the shortage of sheep in the North African country .

“Performing it in these difficult circumstances will cause real harm to large segments of our people, especially those with limited income,” the king, who is also Morocco's highest religious authority, wrote in the letter, as per the Guardian report.

To uphold the religious significance of sacrifice, Mohammed VI announced that he would perform the sacrifice on behalf of all Moroccans on Eid al-Adha.

Muslim Majority Nation

Morocco is a Muslim majority country with Islam as the most widely practised religion, with over 99 per cent of the population identifying as Muslims. The Moroccan constitution recognises Islam as the state religion

Muslims in Morocco will mark Eid al-Adha on Saturday, 7 June. This is a day later than in many other countries, including Saudi Arabia, where it was celebrated on Friday, 6 June. Muslims in India will also celebrate Eid al-Adha on Saturday, 7 June.

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Ahead of Eid on 7 June, Moroccan authorities have launched a nationwide campaign to close down livestock markets, preventing the sale of sacrificial animals, media reports said.

Feast of sacrifice

Eid al-Adha, is an annual 'feast of sacrifice' in which Muslims slaughter livestock to honour the incident mentioned in Quran about prophet Ibrahim willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God. While Ibrahim was about to follow the divine order (in his dream), God intervened and replaced the child with a sheep.

In many parts of north Africa, including Morocco, an enduring drought has intensified inflation in recent years. After seven years of dry weather, Morocco's sheep herds have reduced by 38 percent, which has drastically increased the price of sheep.

Last year, prices reached around $600 ( ₹51,426). The price of the preferred domestic sheep can often exceed monthly household earnings in Morocco, where the monthly minimum wage is $324 ( ₹27,833).

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Prices have become so exorbitant that 55 per cent of families surveyed by the Moroccan Centre for Citizenship, a non-profit, last year said they struggled to cover the costs of buying sheep.

Performing it in these difficult circumstances will cause real harm to large segments of our people, especially those with limited income.

Morocco has one of the highest red meat consumption rates in Africa and has lost a third of its national cattle and sheep population since 2016. In its 2025 budget, Morocco suspended import duties and a value-added tax on cattle and sheep to help stabilise domestic prices.

(With inputs from the Guardian and other agencies)

Key Takeaways
• Economic and environmental factors have led to significant changes in cultural practices.
• Royal intervention illustrates the balance between tradition and contemporary challenges.
• Morocco's livestock crisis highlights broader issues of food security and economic stability in the region.

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