Livestock sellers in Kashmir cash in on Eid-al-Adha demand

Srinagar, Oct. 24 (ANI): Livestock markets with large numbers of goats and sheep are doing roaring business here, in anticpation of the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Adha.

Prospective customers thronged the Eidgah ground on Wednesday to select the animals of their choice for the sacrifice scheduled to take place on Saturday.

Dealers said the high demand had caused them to sell at least a fourth of the animals brought by them.

"We have sold at least 25 per cent of the animals we brought here. Unlike other markets, we have animals for a wide range of prices depending on their breed. We sell the animals at between 165-180 rupees per kilogram," said Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, a livestock seller and butcher.

As customers navigated their way through flocks of long-haired goats and thick-fleeced sheep of all sizes, some decorated with henna, their enthusiasm in the run-up to the festival was clearly visible.

"People are busy buying animals to sacrifice on Eid. There are all kinds of goat and sheep available here, at all prices. People are enthusiastic about the festival, according to which Prophet Abraham presented his son Ishmael as a sacrifice to Allah. To commemorate this, people sacrifice the animals of their choice and will do so until the day of Judgement," said a customer, Farooq Ahmad.

According to Islamic tradition, the Prophet Abraham was blessed with his son Ishmael at a very advanced age and nurtured a deep love for the boy. Allah (God), through a series of divine commandments to Abraham, ordered him to sacrifice his son in order to prove his devotion. Very saddened, but true to his faith, Abraham readied for the sacrifice, to which his son had also consented. Abraham was stopped by Allah at the last moment, having given proof of his faith, and was asked to sacrifice a goat instead. The ritual of sacrificing animals every year is in tribute to this incident.

The festival also marks the culmination of the Hajj pilgrimage, considered as one of the five pillars of Islam.

The tradition of the Eid-al-Adha festival also enjoins all those who can afford a sacrifice to do so, and to distribute the meat of the slaughtered animals to the needy, after keeping back what they need for themselves. (ANI)