Celebration of Aid El Kebir in Marseille |
|
Collection title
FR3 Provence Mediterranean news
First broadcast date
07/13/1989
Abstract
Meaning of the Feast of Aid El Kebir that follows the fast of Ramadan and application of Muslim traditions in a European country.
Production companies
-
France 3 Marseille - Own production
Primary theme
Religious Practices
Credits / Cast
- Vigouroux Robert - Participant
Map locations
- France - South East - Marseille
Context
The Festival of Eid al-Adha at Marseille
Mayalen Zubillaga
Eid al-Adha (the feast of sacrifice) is the annual commemoration by the Muslim community of an event related in the Old Testament. Abraham (or Ibrahim) was about to sacrifice his own son to obey God's commandment when at the last moment the Angel Gabriel appeared, replacing the child with a ram. Although Eid al-Adha is not a religious obligation, it is recommended for families who can afford a sheep and those families who can are very fond of the custom. Celebrated within the family, Eid is said to give divine blessing (baraka) to those who celebrate it. It is also a festival of reconciliation, sharing and solidarity with those in need. According to custom the sheep is sacrificed by the head of the family, either in the garden or in front of the family house. Thus the Eid sheep is more than the usual halal (permissible under Islamic law).
This film is not so much about Eid as a religious ritual but as a commemorative event in the context of immigration, in a resolutely secular country where there is freedom of worship. Marseille, major Mediterranean port, crystallises the national and European issues surrounding Eid, whether symbolic, legal or related to health. For migrants from North Africa Eid is a religious practice, but it is also a nostalgia for the festival back in the home country, the feeling of belonging to a community (local but also world-wide) and a need to assert one's identity. Although the European Union insists on "freedom of thought, conscience and religion", the sacrifice of a sheep is illegal if carried out by the head of a family and outside a slaughter-house, the only legal place an animal can be killed for consumption
That is why for a long time Muslims – France's second largest religious community – have sacrificed the sheep in secret in their home. It is above all in towns that this practise has caused problems, opening up a long series of debates ("sheep has throat cut in bathroom" in the 1980's, complaints from neighbours inconvenienced by the nuisance caused by the sacrifice in inappropriate places such as in a cellar, a garage or communal spaces in the neighbourhoods where immigrants live) particularly animated because in France the urban neighbourhoods surrounding the major towns usually have a diversity of religions and customs.
In the 1980's public authorities and some local collectivities tried to find a solution which would allow Muslim populations to celebrate Eid while not upsetting those of different religions or backgrounds. Temporary sacrifice centres (in this film Marseille's former slaughterhouse) were made available by some municipalities. But these special sites were denounced in 1999 by the Union's veterinary service. Since the number of slaughterhouses has continually declined since the 1980's, many families have resigned themselves to buying a ready-killed sheep from the butcher or supermarket. So some details of the sacrifice have been altered: the place of sacrifice, the way the sacrifice is carried out and the family hierarchy (the cooking of the sheep by a woman for example has taken over the sacrifice itself).
Bibliography
Bergeaud-Blackler Florence, « De la viande halal à l’halal food », Revue européenne des migrations internationales [En ligne], vol. 21 - n°3 | 2005, mis en ligne le 01 décembre 2008, consulté le 09 décembre 2011. URL : http://remi.revues.org/2524
BRISEBARRE Anne-Marie, « Sacrifier pour l’Aïd el Kébir en France », site de l'Observatoire Cniel des Habitudes Alimentaires (OCHA), [En ligne], mis en ligne le 17 décembre 2007, consulté le 22 mai 2012. URL : http://www.lemangeur-ocha.com/sciences-humaines/textes-exclusifs/detail/auteur-texte/0/sacrifier-pour-laid-el-kebir-en-france/disp
BRISEBARRE Anne-Marie. « La Célébration de l’Ayd el-Kébir en France : les enjeux du Sacrifice », Archives des sciences sociales des religions n° 68/1, 1989, pp. 9-25.
