Latest news with #MoroccanCenterforCitizenship
Mint
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Mint
This Muslim country in Africa has banned animal sacrifice on Eid al-Adha. Here's why
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)
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
06-06-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Why Morocco will abstain from sacrificing sheep this Eid al-Adha
King Mohammed VI has urged Moroccans not to slaughter sheep for the upcoming Eid al-Adha festivities. The reason – the soaring prices of livestock and the scarcity of sheep read more Sheep are offered for sale for the upcoming Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha in a market on the outskirts of Rabat, Morocco. File image/AP In Morocco, Eid al-Adha will be like no other. The celebrations will go on but without the ritual of animal sacrifice. It's a directive from King Mohammed VI. Through a letter the king, who is Morocco's supreme religious, announced in February that families should 'abstain' from slaughtering sheep this year and that the monarch would perform the Eid sacrifice on behalf of the people. Why will Moroccans not sacrifice sheep this Eid? Morocco is breaking away from the centuries-old practice because of soaring livestock prices and a scarcity of sheep. According to the king's letter, performing animal sacrifice on Eid would cause 'real harm to many of our people, particularly those with limited income'. 'Our commitment to enabling you to fulfil this religious right under the best conditions is accompanied by the duty to consider the climatic and economic challenges facing our country, which have led to a significant decline in livestock numbers,' King Mohammed VI said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Such a big announcement has not been made in the country for decades. The late King Hassan cancelled the Eid sacrifice three times during his rule for similar reasons or in the aftermath of the 1963 Sand War with neighbouring Algeria, reports Middle East Eye. How dire is the situation in Morocco? Morocco is seeing a dip in the herds of sheep because of a six-year drought, which has caused livestock numbers to plummet. The calamity has only intensified inflation. The cost of a sheep in Morocco frequently surpasses the average monthly household income; the minimum wage is approximately 3,000 Moroccan dirhams (Rs 28,000). A recent survey conducted by the NGO Moroccan Center for Citizenship indicated that 55 per cent of respondent families encountered financial difficulties in acquiring sheep and utensils needed to cook such a meal. The rise in prices is driven by the increasingly sparse pastures; there is less room for grazing, and this increases the cost of feed for herders and farmers. Morocco's livestock numbers have shrunk by more than a third compared to the figure counted in the last census in 2016, according to the agriculture ministry. For livestock sellers, the economic toll has also proved heavy. At the Khemisset market, 24-year-old Marouane Haizoun was waiting to sell two cows. He said he had left his sheep on the family farm as it would have been difficult to sell any this year. 'Prices would have been exorbitant,' he told AFP. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Some families 'would have to take out loans' to buy sheep, admitted Mona Hajjami, 28, who was buying vegetables at the market. Sheep come running when Labri El Ghazouani pours alfalfa and straw into their troughs twice a day. File image/AP Yet not everyone is pleased to give up the practice. Fatima Kharraz said that she can't seem to find the usual sense of celebration, as Eid approaches. 'We don't feel the usual excitement… It's as if the holiday doesn't exist.' While others come out in support of the king's call, they agree that the festivities are dull. 'I support the decision,' said Hajjami. Still, she added, 'It's normal to feel a void without an atmosphere of grilled meat.' However, experts believe the cancellation of sacrifice will help the country. 'We know today that the purchasing power of many citizens has severely declined. Therefore, cancelling Eid al-Adha could spare these individuals from spending financial resources,' Mohammed Jadri, a Moroccan economist and director of the Observatory of Government Action, a private monitoring organisation was quoted as saying by Middle East Eye. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD According to him, it would 'ease the burden on those who suffered last year, where livestock reached record levels exceeding $500 to $600 per head.' Why are sheep and goats sacrificed on Eid al-Adha? Eid al-Adha, which will be celebrated on June 7 is an annual 'feast of sacrifice', during which the faithful slaughter livestock to commemorate Prophet Ibrahim's devotion. According to the Quran, Ibrahim or Abraham, prepared to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, who intervened and replaced the child with a sheep. This is a major holiday for millions of Muslims worldwide, from Morocco to Indonesia, with traditions so embedded that families often borrow money or take out loans in order to buy sheep. With inputs from agencies
Morocco World
01-06-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
Survey Warns of Civic Shortcomings Threatening Morocco's Image Ahead of World Cup 2030
Rabat — The Moroccan Center for Citizenship published a survey this week, assessing public perceptions and practices, offering a glimpse into priority areas for awareness, especially as Morocco is hosting major international events like the World Cup 2030. The survey, which took place between February and March, studies public space behavior, interpersonal respect, and other public practices related to civic conduct in Morocco. Understanding survey demographics The survey featured 1,173 participants, with 75.9% being males and 24.1% being females. Age distribution among those who were surveyed included a segment aged between 30-39, and this represented 32.6% of the participants. People aged between 20 to 29 represented 28.4% of the survey, while those aged 40 to 49 represented 11.4%. About 33.2% of the people surveyed were public employees, followed by students, private-sector workers, and as few as 103% are unemployed. Retirees make up 5.8% of the survey.f Respondents with a master's degree or higher represent 43.5%, and those who hold a bachelor's degree represent 40.7%. Rabat-Sale-Kenitra had the highest participation rate, followed by Casablanca-Settat, and Fez- Meknes, as well as Marrakech-Safi, and Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima in addition to the Oriental. Results of the survey The survey studied negative behaviors that could damage Morocco's reputation during the 2030 World Cup. Participants identified several concerns, including commercial fraud, poor hygiene, and customer exploitation. 'Practices like overcharging or offering poor-quality services were considered the most damaging by 84.8% of respondents,' the survey reads, noting that 81.7% of the people who took part in the survey expressed concern over behaviors that tarnish the environmental and visual appeal of cities. About 77% of respondents also cited aggressive or organized begging in tourist areas and stadiums, noting that such behaviour could negatively affect tourists and visitors. 'Lack of clean public restrooms in tourist areas and stadiums,' the report shows, noting that 73.6% of respondents see this issue against Morocco's infrastructure quality. In addition to similar civil conduct, the report notably highlighted issues like taxis' involvement in rejecting customers or tourists, or inflating prices. About 73% of respondents see similar practices as annoying. Among the challenges cited in the survey are poor emergency and health services, with 71.7% said they are dissatisfied. The concerns also cover disregard for queues and public order in stadiums, transport, shops, and public spaces, verbal and physical harassment of female tourists, stressful harassment, reckless driving, disregard for traffic laws, as well as other attitudes against tourists. Recommendation The center concluded its survey with a series of recommendations, including fostering civic behavior education into the curriculum at all levels, with an emphasis on empowering the family institution as a key actor in shaping civic behavior. The center also recommends the launch of national awareness campaigns targeting society at large about desirable behaviors in public spaces, using traditional and digital media. It also promotes influencers' involvement in promoting a culture of respect, discipline, and tolerance. The center also stressed the importance of raising awareness about laws related to civic behavior, simplifying channels for reporting uncivil behaviors, and establishing a local civil enforcement police force with clear mandates to apply the law fairly and effectively. Tags: 2010 World Cup2018 FIFA World Cup
Voice of America
02-03-2025
- General
- Voice of America
Morocco urges people to not buy sheep for Eid al-Adha celebrations
Sheep come running when Larbi El Ghazouani pours alfalfa and straw into their troughs twice a day. The 55-year-old farmer had counted on selling the bulk of his 130 sheep to Moroccans preparing for early June's Eid Al-Adha holiday, but now his hopes are unraveling and he expects to lose around half of his investment. That's because, in a surprising break from tradition, King Mohammed VI on Wednesday urged Moroccans to forgo buying sheep to be sacrificed during this year's holiday amid record inflation and climate change. A seven-year drought has decimated the country's livestock, causing sheep prices to surge beyond the reach of working class families. "Performing it (the sacrifice) 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 letter read on state-run Al Aoula television. Drought has driven some of his neighbors to stop breeding livestock, so he said he understood the circumstances that led to the king's decision. He still plans to breed more ewes to be sold before next year's holiday. But for breeders like him, the cancelling of Eid festivities will deal a heavy blow. It costs El Ghazouani roughly 1,500 Moroccan dirhams ($150) to feed a sheep for one year on a diet of straw, alfalfa and fava beans — a 50% spike from only three years ago. Now he and other breeders are preparing to wait. It will be another year of buying feed before they can sell them. "There's a difference between the years before the drought and what we're suffering today," he said, tending to sheep on his farm outside the city of Kenitra. "I wasted money on fodder and made an effort with these sheep." Eid al-Adha, which takes place this year in early June, is an annual "feast of sacrifice" in which Muslims slaughter livestock to honor a passage of the Quran in which the prophet Ibrahim prepared to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, who intervened and replaced the child with a sheep. It's a major holiday from Senegal to Indonesia, with traditions so embedded that families have been known to take out loans to buy sheep. The prices have become so exorbitant that 55% of families surveyed by the Moroccan NGO Moroccan Center for Citizenship last year said they struggled to cover the costs of purchasing sheep and the utensils needed to prepare them. More than 7% of respondents said they either took out loans or borrowed money from acquaintances to buy the sacrificial sheep. The sheep price spikes are driven by increasingly sparse pastures, which offer less grazing room and raise the costs of feed for herders and farmers. Morocco's agricultural minister told reporters earlier this month that rainfall this season was currently 53% below the last 30 years' annual average and sheep and cattle herds had shrunk 38% since 2016, the last time Morocco conducted a livestock census. The price of preferred domestic sheep can often exceed monthly household earnings in Morocco, where the monthly minimum wage remains 3,000 Moroccan dirhams ($302). The country has in recent years subsidized and imported livestock, including from Romania, Spain and Australia, from which it plans to import 100,000 sheep this year. To keep prices steady, Morocco this year removed import duties and VAT on livestock and red meat. It's the first time in 29 years that Morocco has asked citizens to forgo holiday feasting and reflects that food prices remain a struggle for many despite Morocco's transformation from a largely agrarian nation to a mixed economy whose cities have some of the Middle East and Africa's most modern infrastructure. King Hassan II issued similar decrees three times throughout his reign, during wartime, drought and when the IMF mandated Morocco end food subsidies.
Euronews
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Drought-hit Morocco urges people not to buy sheep for Eid al-Adha celebrations
Morocco's King Mohammed VI has urged people not to buy sheep to slaughter during this year's Eid al-Adha festivities due to a huge decline in the country's herd. In a letter read on state-run Al Aoula television this week, the king said record inflation and climate change were to blame for soaring livestock prices and a shortage of sheep. "Our commitment to enabling you to fulfil this religious rite under the best conditions is accompanied by the duty to consider the climatic and economic challenges facing our country, which have led to a significant decline in livestock numbers," wrote King Mohammed VI — who is also the north African country's highest religious authority. "Performing it (the sacrifice) in these difficult circumstances will cause real harm to large segments of our people, especially those with limited income," he added. Eid al-Adha, which takes place this year in June, is an annual "feast of sacrifice" in which Muslims slaughter livestock to honour a passage of the Qu'ran in which the prophet Ibrahim prepared to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, who intervened and replaced the child with a sheep. It is a major holiday for millions of Muslims worldwide — from Morocco to Indonesia — with traditions so embedded that families often take out loans in order to buy sheep. The cost of a sheep can often exceed monthly household earnings in Morocco, where the monthly minimum wage is about 3,000 Moroccan dirhams (€290). The prices have become so exorbitant that 55% of families surveyed by the NGO Moroccan Center for Citizenship last year said they struggled to cover the costs of purchasing sheep and the utensils needed to prepare them. The price spikes are driven by increasingly sparse pastures, which offer less grazing room and raise the costs of feed for herders and farmers. Morocco's agricultural minister said earlier this month that rainfall this season was currently 53% below the last 30 years' annual average, and that sheep and cattle herds had shrunk 38% since 2016, when the country last conducted a livestock census. The country has in recent years subsidised and imported livestock, including from Romania, Spain and Australia, from which it plans to import 100,000 sheep this year. In a bid to keep prices steady, Morocco this year removed import duties and VAT on livestock and red meat. It marks the first time in nearly three decades that Morocco has asked citizens to forgo holiday feasting at Eid al-Adha. Although Morocco has transformed from a largely agrarian nation to a mixed economy whose cities have some of the Middle East and Africa's most modern infrastructure, food prices remain a struggle for many people.
