Eid Mubarak, Mutineers! There are two Eids that Muslims celebrate, one marks the end to a month of fasting and another marks the end to pilgrimage to Mecca, called Hajj. Today we celebrate the latter one, Eid-al-Adha. This Eid in particular is the one where a sacrifice is supposed to be made of a goat or cow (the meat is to be eaten later and donated), in remembrance of the story of Ibrahim being asked by Allah to sacrifice his son and his son being replaced by a goat.
It was for this reason, my friends and I joked around about how we needed an Eid goat. Easter has the bunny rabbit, Christmas has Santa Claus. But growing up as a Muslim kid in the U.S., we didn’t really have anything equivalent. I was always told Eid was my version of Christmas, but then, why did all the other kids get presents and we didn’t? As we got older, it seemed like the Eid goat would have been the perfect solution.
Thus, I had already goats on my mind when maitri tweeted the following “I Want a Goat” video [NSFW]. It’s promoting a program, I Want a Goat, where you can design and donate a goat to a village in India. The modern twist is that this video has hipster charm splashed all over it.
I realize the tie between this video and Eid is tenuous at best. I found the the song amusing and the cause seems legit. The project was started by a woman Debbie who volunteered in the village for seven months and saw a similar program run successfully in India. For only a $20 donation, you will be donating a goat to a village in Koraput. Why goat?
For tribal people who are landless, raising goats is a great alternative source of income. Families who breed goats can earn a good profit selling the kids in the local market. The extra income provides a safety net for families that can be used for things like medicine, food during lean periods and farm equipment.
While I was volunteering in Koraput, I personally witnessed a village that was transformed by a similar goatery program. Three years ago, Goats & Hopes, a UK-based charity, gave a goat to each of the 37 families in the village. I went to visit the village and was greeted by 96 goats and their families who told me stories of how the goats have given them the extra savings they needed to break free from their debt to moneylenders. The success of this program demonstrates the long-term effects of goats as a sustainable income-generation source. [iwantagoat]
It seems like this project is new and just getting off the ground. Abhi’s already jumped on the goat wagon (“I donated a white goat with gold uggs that I named Darwin using that site.”) If you donate and play on the site, you can even enter for a chance to win a flight to India.
So there you have it. Eid Mubarak and go design your own goat today!
My personal-favorite all-purpose, lighter-on-the-ecology frisky, farm animal.
Here is a review on the contribution of goat husbandry to household incomes.
Question, we used to call it Id-ul-zuha growing up in India and had never heard of it being called id-ul-adha, do you know what the difference is?
Eid Mubarak ! That song was really fun !
Although I am not in favor of killing animals (esp mammals) for food, but who am I to sermonize to people who don’t even have enough food to eat. That’s why I am so amused at the sensationalize of animal sacrifice in Nepal in the western media. But all the news neglects to mention that that happens once in five year and is the only days most of the poor devotees gets to eat any meat. Compared to that the number of animals killed in US range in billions, but all is good and well as it happens in the hidden slaughterhouses.
One way of donating goat to poor families is through thehungersite.com
I can haz goat?
I think the “I Want a Goat” video is a brilliant way to get people to pay attention, and make see people in such situations as humorous and fun-loving (i.e. normal) as well… great video, and great Idea… I already added my goat “Goatee” to the list.. 🙂
I donated to “I want a goat” on Wed. Today I have been eating goat for Eid. All is in balance. 🙂
Got goat?
Eid-al-Adha is the correct classical Arabic way of saying it.
In the Farsi and Urdu speaking worlds of Iran and South Asia, common Arabic terms in Islamic terminology undergo minor pronunciation changes.
But this is true of most non-Arabic speaking Muslim communities.
In China, the Hui Muslim people say “Mo” for Muhammad. In Turkish, Muhammad is “Mehmet” and in Farsi “Mahmood.” Just to illustrate the point.
When I was living in Bangladesh they called it Eid-ul-Azha, and I assume they didn’t stop calling it that after I left. I find it strange, learning about the alternatives, because Bengali has no “z” sound. That z sound usually gets shifted towards a j sound for Bengalis (pizza -> peeja), butI can’t remember if people pronounced that Eid like Eid-ul-Adha or -Aja.
Hello. And Bye.
Feel terrible for the animals. Imagine if a higher intelligence race lands on earth and treats us the way we treat animals. imagine if it happened to our kids. Animal sacrifice – terrible, TERRIBLE!!!!!
“Animal sacrifice – terrible, TERRIBLE!!!!!”
um. really, how abt animal testing? how abt when the animals gets eaten by other animals? done properly, they are done with a 2.5 goes (one way, than another way, than a half, so i am told). a cattle prod in the head may be just as terrible. or how abts a electric water shock like the chickenz.
what IS terrible is the damn right mess and lack of post event cleanliness practiced in modern day cities, where open space is hard to find.
It sucks but there are a few billion people that are omnivores and billions of animals (which is what we as humans are after all)… so that opinion isn’t going to cause much of a dent.
Besides I think (correct me if I’m wrong Taz) the point of this piece wasn’t the sacrifice of animals, but rather to sacrifice a few bucks to help out those less fortunate. The Eid thing was used an introduction.
Word!
By the way, I’m taking bets 3:1 that this is somehow going to become an argument about religion (at which point I will take the high road and sit out).