This Muslim country in Africa has banned animal sacrifice on Eid al-Adha. Here's why

Mint

06-06-2025

Muslims in Morocco will celebrate Eid al-Adha without the ritual of 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 ritual in this festival.
But Muslims in 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.
In February, King Mohammed VI has urged his fellow Moroccans not to slaughter sheep for Eid al-Adha as the country grapples with dwindling herds due to a six-year drought, according to a report in the Guardian.
On 26 February, the 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 sheep shortage 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.
Morocco is a Muslim majority country with Islam as the most widely practiced religion , with over 99 per cent of the population identifying as Muslims. The Moroccan constitution recognise Islam as the state religion
Muslims in Morocco will mark Eid a-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.
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.
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).
Prices have become so exorbitant that 55 per cent of families surveyed by the Moroccan Center 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)