Kurban

On our way back home to Atife's house we were driving past a neighborhood park and I was huge flock of sheep just hanging out with their shepherd. Now this may seem unusual, but we often see sheep and goats and cows grazing in the medians on the freeway or on roundabouts or even in neighborhood parks. The unusual thing was how many there were and that some had spray paint marks on them. I stopped to take a picture because, well as Johannes can attest, I am a sucker for sheep. I love to see sheep wandering amok. But, this also provided a visual aid to discuss the next upcoming Muslim holiday, Kurban, the Day of Sacrifice (20th December this year). Kurban is other holiest holiday in Islam, next to Ramadan (like our Easter and Christmas).


This story will help explain a lot about the differences between Muslims and Christians. As you may recall from your old testament readings, Abraham and Sarah couldn't have a baby for many years, so eventually she gave Abraham her handmaid, Hagar, who bore him Ishmael. This is the lineage of the Arab people. According to their tradition is was Ishmael not Isaac who was taken up to the mountain to be Sacrificed (partly because Abraham liked Isaac better). The day of Kurban is a reminder of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to Allah. So, for Kurban Bayrami each family hopes to be able to (but most can't afford to) sacrifice a lamb (it has now become a lamb whereas in Mohammed's time they sacrificed camels), and the Koranic law requires that at least 10% of that is donated to the poor. It is all eaten, nothing wasted. So all of those spray painted sheep have been purchased and are just frolicking in the park until they are sacrificed in a few days.