by C Cartwright-Jones · 2001 — The goat meat and milk industry are concerned with Eid al-Adha as a production and distribution issue. Id al-Adha is the 12th day of Tho El Hija, the last month of
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2 Id al-Adha: The Ecological and Nutritional Impact of the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice, and the Significance of Henna in this Sacrifice Copyright 2001 Catherine Cartwright-Jones Cover Graphic by Alex Morgan Published by TapDancing Lizard LLC 4237 Klein Ave. Stow, Ohio 44224 USA All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Henna artists may freely use these patterns as inspiration for their own hand-drawn henna work. Library of Congress Cataloging in-Publication Data Catherine Cartwright-Jones Id al-Adha Henna Art: Traditions 2
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3Id al-Adha: The Ecological and Nutritional Impact of the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice, and the Significance of Henna in this Sacrifice Catherine Cartwright Jones, 2002 Id al-Adha is the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice, the holiest and grandest festival of the Muslim calendar. The feast falls on the 12th month of the calendar, Tho El Hija, the month of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. The Feast of Sacrifice lasts for four days and commemorates Ibrahim’s (Abraham™s) obedience to God in all things, even to sacrifice his own son Ishmael if such was required. God intervened at the moment of Ibrahim™s sacrifice, providing a ram in place of the beloved son so that Ishmael might live.i The Feast of Sacrifice requires every head of household to sacrifice a goat, sheep, or other domestic ruminant, in memory of Ibrahim™s devotion to God if he or she can possibly afford to do soii. A third of the meat is eaten by the sacrificer™s family during the Id holiday, a third is given to relatives, and the remaining third is given to the poor. Id al-Adha is one of the two times of the year that every Muslim, no matter how poor, can expect to eat their fill of meat. The Origins of Id al-Adha Sacrifice and Henna Henna is an important part of this Id sacrifice, and has been significant in many celebrations since the pre-monotheistic Bronze Age. The Ugaritic Canaanites used henna in association with their ritual associated with spring fertility sacrifices of domestic ruminants, as well as harvest festivals, as noted in the Ugaritic Myth of Baal, in the version of Ilimilku (de Moor, 1971: 85). In this epic myth, young women gather fresh henna leaves when the rainy season ends and the warm seasons begins in late March or early April, when the Pleiades are visible in the early evening western sky. They applied the henna to their hands and feet, as is documented the Ugaritic text and in the Apocrypha, fiThe Second Book of Adam and Evefl chapter 20 verse 31. During the period from 3000 BCE to 1200 BCE, ceramic pieces from Minos, the Cyclades, Mycenae, and Cyprus depict young women displaying dark red stains on their hands and feet. This fertility festival featured the sacrifice of domestic ruminants for Baal, the rain bringing bull-god (Hooke, 1965: 83) (De Moor, 1971: 85 Œ 123) from about 3000 B. C. E. This tradition may have been established as early as 7000 B.C. E. in Catal Huyuk, Turkey, where fertility ritual actions were associated with red hands and a bull god marked in red, (Mellaart. 1967), with henna plausibly being the source of the red colorant in practice. The spring sacrifice was incorporated into Judaism as Abraham™s intended sacrifice of Isaac (Maccoby, 1983: 74 – 86). A 6th century CE mosaic on the floor of Beth Alpha synagogue in Galilea shows God hennaed hand reaching forth to stay Abraham™s knife (Campbell, 1988: 84). The sacrifice was integrated into Christianity via the crucifixion of Christ (the lamb of god) at Easter (Maccoby, 1983: 97 Œ 106). A 5th century Coptic Christian tapestry in the Cleveland Museum shows three Easter worshippers, with henna 3
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4stains on their raised hands. The tradition came into Islam through Id al-Adha celebrations. According to Islamic tradition, when the Prophet Mohammed sacrificed a ram in remembrance of Ibrahim, he applied henna and kohl to the ram, and to his own hands (Hammoudi, 1993: 186). The pre-monotheistic agrarian fertility and sacrifice rituals with their accompanying henna traditions spread through the eastern Mediterranean and into North Africa during the Bronze Age. Sacrificial sites have been found in Punic areas of Tunisia, marked by stelae consecrating the sites to Baal. Excavations of these sites have shown containments of immolated child sacrifices, and comparable sacrifices occurred at Carthage and other Punic sites, verified also by Roman writings. (Green, 159 Р182). Westermarck (1917, 464-711), and Hammoudi (1993, 27 Π9) elaborate on the agrarian ritual substitution of a chosen victim for others whose lives are in danger, a sacrifice to appease a wrathful deity and secure favorable conditions and the ritual metaphoric re-enactment of the agricultural death and renewal cycle. Greene point out Punic inscriptions from the 6th century B.C.E. use the word molchmor, fithe offering of a lambfl to demonstrate that domestic male ruminant animal sacrifice replaced human sacrifice during this period. In Carthage, the substitution of a goat for a child in agrarian ritual sacrifice beginning in the 6th century B.C.E. is corroborated by the change in the bone contents of burial urns of immolated fiTophetsfl at sanctuaries of Baal worship (Green, 1975: 182 Р183). The annual springtime fertility ritual of goat and sheep sacrifice was performed to secure blessing, and deter drought and famine in the Levant beginning between 3000 B.C.E. and 1200 B.C.E. Rainfall in the region diminished to about 30fl per year during that period as human population expanded, creating greater demands on the resource base, particularly on water. (Craigie, 1983: 28). That level of rainfall is adequate for goat forage, though Canaanite farmers were often concerned about having sufficient water resources for the dry season. Reducing the number of male sheep and goats in the spring, specifically as a sacrifice to Baal, the god of rain and fertility (Craigie, 1993: 61 Π6), relieved pressure on pasture and water resources the following summer. North African areas colonized by the Canaanites performed the same ritual actions intended to please the same rain and fertility deity, Baal. This pagan goat sacrifice passed with little change into the monotheistic religions that evolved in the Canaanite indigenous regions. In Amazigh agrarian communities, the Muslim Id al-Adha ritual sacrifice is still accompanied by prayers for rainfall and fertility (Hammoudi, 1993, 23). These were originally springtime rituals, which removed the male domestic ruminants less useful to human nutrition from the ecosystem at the onset of the dry season. In the Jewish and Christian solar calendar, this sacrifice remains placed in the springtime. Islam set the agrarian ritual into a moveable lunar calendar in the mid 7th century, so Id does not necessarily harvest the males in the springtime (Hammoudi, 1993: 28). 4
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5Id al-Adha™s Anthropological Significance Id al-Adha is a celebration that has economic, social and ecological functions. Id sacrifice is a sacred obligation in Islam, and is accompanied by prayers, and attending sermons at the mosque. For some who can afford it, the sacrifice precedes pilgrimage rites in Mecca. The sacrifice demonstrates a person™s obedience to God in all things. Id sacrifice is also a personal redemption and ritual expiation of mistakes committed in the past yeariii. The sacrificed animal™s hide is often tanned and dressed for use as a prayer mat (Trimingham, 1959: 80). The hide might be given as a gift, it was not to be sold. The sacrificed animal is believed to serve as a steed carrying the man to heaven at his death (Legey, 1926: 99). The goat meat and milk industry are concerned with Eid al-Adha as a production and distribution issue. Id al-Adha is the 12th day of Tho El Hija, the last month of the Muslim lunar calendar. Id thus occurs on a different date each year, as the lunar calendar is shorter than the Gregorian calendar. The sacrificial animals must be yearlings at Id, uncastrated and with undocked tails, shipped live and in perfect condition in time for the holiday. The exact date of Id is determined by a careful calculation of the first sighting of the new moon, so farmers must take care to breed and ship the appropriate livestock to market at the correct time (Thonney, 2001). For the World Bank Bank Technical Paper; fiSheep and Goats in Developing Countriesfl, Id is a function of goat management in third world economic development. The Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture is concerned with Id™s effect in the livestock industry, as all the healthiest, most perfect, yearling livestock are harvested. This genetically depletes the herds, as the best males are removed from the gene pool before they can be used as breeding stock (Hoagland, 1988, 776-777). Westermarck (1917: 464-71) and Hammoudi (1993) interpret Id al-Adha as a continuity of an agrarian fertility ritual, directly descended from the Bronze Age Canaanite religion. For merchants in Muslim communities, Eid a-Adha is the key economic point of the year, comparable to Christmas in purchasing gifts, apparel and food. Children go through their villages seeking presents of sweets and small amounts of money from neighbors, who expect that their generosity will bring God™s favor upon them. (Westermarck, 1926: 110) Id sales are thus a fimake or breakfl period for the year in many economic sectors. Id is celebrated with feasting, entertainment, gifts for friends and family, new clothing and henna adornment. The Id al-Adha can also be regarded as an efficient and longstanding energy flow regulating mechanism reinforced by henna and related ritual actions. Id optimizes energy capture and flow from forage to domestic ruminants to agrarian and pastoralist people in the North African and desert biomes. Rappaport (1968), in fiPigs for the Ancestorsfl demonstrated Tsembaga ritual pig sacrifice as an energy flow 5
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6homeostat. When domestic pig populations increased to a level that strained local resources, a war was declared and pigs were sacrificed as a part of elaborate rituals to secure the assistance of ancestors in tribal skirmishes. When the pig population was depleted, and the war concluded, very little pig meat was harvested until the next ritual slaughter. Thus the periodic declaration of war and ritual pig slaughter kept the pig population in homeostasis within the ecosystem. Id can be demonstrated to be a similar ritually maintained ecological energy flow mechanism. Id harvests up to half the male domestic ruminant population in Muslim dominated savannah and desert biomes, reserving scarce forage and water for females, who provide six to ten times more high quality protein and calories for human consumption via lactation than the males. This manages the energy flow of people and their domestic ruminants within their habitat towards an optimal goal range so that forage and water resources will not be depleted by herd overpopulation, while maintaining a steady resource of protein for the human population. Id al-Adha rituals satisfy religious and social needs, and they impact nutrition and land use. As with the Tsembaga pig slaughter in fiPigs for the Ancestorsfl (Rappaport, 1968), sanctification reinforces the importance of Id sacrifice, and separates it from the occasional decision to procure meat for dinner. The Importance of Id al-Adha Ritual Henna differentiates Id sacrifice as different from a secular banquet or large holiday meal. Henna paste is made from freshly ground leaves and lemon juice if there is a henna bush with a new growth of leaves in the neighborhood. The paste is applied in patterns on the hands and feet, legs and arms, and occasionally on the face. If there are no henna bushes locally, henna powder is purchased at the market, and mixed with rainwater or lemon juice. Household henna mixes may include black pepper, clove, coffee, tea, orange flower water, rosewater, yogurt, sugar, egg white, frankincense powder, cardamom, and pomegranate syrup. The henna is applied with a kohl pick, small stick or more modern implements such as syringes, bottles, or cones made of rolled plastic. Khamsa patterns, in diamond, cross or x shaped variants are favored for Id patterns in Amazigh Moroccan villages. These simple patterns are preferred for Id, as there is little time to spare during the holiday preparations for elaborate patterning such as would be done on a bride. Henna beautifies the wearers for the festive occasion, as well as averting evil from the sacrifice. Everyone is adorned with Id henna patterns, including the sacrificial animal, to deter evil spirits from interfering with the spiritual benefits of the sacrifice. At no other time is an animal to be slaughtered for eating marked with henna, kissed on the mouth, and adorned as bride. Prayers, incense, kohl, ritual bathing, and other specific actions are deemed necessary to sanctify this sacrifice, and differentiate it from slaughter. If the ritual actions are not completed correctly, no blessings or expiation of sin are conferred upon the participants. Though Homans argues that ritual has no fipractical result on the worldfl (1941: 172), 6
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8Henna application is an important ritual action in Id. Henna supplies fibarakafl, the quality of blessedness that deters evil from entering and fouling the sanctity of the ritual performance (Briggs: 1960: 96). The holiness of the sacrifice brings benefit, but also attracts evil. Baraka enhances the fitness of the sacrifice and sacrificer, and prevents jealous, destructive influences from interfering. (Westermarck, 19266: 107). The man who intends to make Id sacrifice must first prepare, sanctify and adorn himself in order to gain benefit from the baraka of the sacrificed victim, and to guard himself from supernatural danger during the sacrifice. (Westermarck, 1926: 106 – 7) Hiana, Andjra, and Ait Sadden married men apply a bit of henna on their palms or on the tips of their fingers, or dip their little finger and nail of the right hand into henna in Dukkala.. Ait Yusi and Ait Sadden unmarried men use more henna, applying patterns to their hands (Westermarck 1926: 107 Œ 8). The men must abstain from sex, as that is polluting (Hammoudi, 1993:113). Men and boys will bathe and have their heads shaved and their nails trimmed, as uncleanness is considered to attract evil. Complete ablutions expiate impurities and sin, and indicate the intention to perform a ritual meeting with God. Women henna their hands and feet the evening before Id unless they are too busy with household preparations. Women henna their hair, and unmarried girls believe they will lose their hair if they do not henna before the hair of the sacrificed animal is singed off after slaughter. Some dab henna on their navels before the feast so they will not get indigestion. Children of both sexes are hennaed, though the girls may have more henna, and in more elaborate patterns than the boys. Everyone who can afford such wears clean, new, clothing, and may perfume it with rosewater, orange-flower water, or incense to repel jnun, malicious spirits (Westermark, 1926: 107 Œ 8). Id henna is applied to domestic animals as well as to the human family. The Hiaiana, Ait Yusi and Ait Nder henna their horses and other animals. They henna the horses™ foreheads, and any white spots on their bodies. Sheep, cattle, goats, mules, cows, are hennaed to enhance their beauty and luck for the coming year. The At Ubahti put henna on one animal of each species, even dogs and cats. Ait Uusi Greyhounds have henna applied to their foreheads, the Hiaina and Ait Sadden greyhounds also have their chests and feet hennaed. If a family has animals too numerous to henna, they simply sprinkle them with a mixture of henna and water. (Westermark, 1926: 8) Dwellings are also marked with henna for Id. Tent dwellers in Dukkala and Ait Sadden will henna the ridgepole of their tent, and the Ait Sadden henna the pole supporting the roof of their house (Westermark, 1926: 108). On the eve of the feast, women will paint their eyes with kohl and darken their lips and teeth with walnut root. The scribe who conducts Id services will apply kohl to his eyes, as will the men. Kohl is regarded as a purifactory and beautifying cosmetic, capable of repelling the evil eye. 8
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9 The sacrificial animal must be of the appropriate species and sex. It is purified, sanctified and adorned with henna and kohl. Goats are and sheep are the preferred sacrifice in most regions, though camels, bulls, and water buffalo are also permitted. The most desirable sacrifice is a yearling male, with perfect horns and teeth, uncastrated, with a fat tail if it is a sheep. It will be set apart from the flock months ahead of time, and brought into the house, where it is treated as a family member. It is kept clean, treated with affection and respect, and played with as a sibling by the family children (Hammoudi, 1993: 114). Women adorn the sacrificial animal as if it were a bride. They apply henna to its head, kohl to its eyes, and walnut root to its mouth in preparation for the sacrifice. The henna and kohl deter the malicious and polluting jnun, and enhance the attractiveness and fitness of the sacrifice. Mohammed is said to have preferred rams with black rings around their eyes, as they resembled a bride™s kohled eyes (Westermarck 1926: 116). These ritual elements set the sacrificial animal well apart from an ordinary source of meat that does not require cosmetic improvement before slaughter. The preparation for ritual sacrifice differs from ordinary butchery. The knife must be consecrated. Each sacrificer takes his knife with him to the religious services the morning of Id, and the knives are put together on the ground. The Ait Sadden thrust their knives into the stone cairn marking the msalla, the village place of worship. The Ait Nder dip their knives into the blood of the first sheep killed at the msalla by the fqi, the village religious leader. Smoldering incense is carried around the sacrificial animal three times to deter malevolent spirits. The victim is turned towards the east, and the sacrificer says a fiBishmillafl, fiin the name of God, God is most Greatfl (Westermarck 1926: 116 – 9). The villagers may then also make sacrifice near the msalla, or make sacrifice in front of their homes. The head of each household prays, turns the animal towards Mecca, and then prays aloud. The women kiss the animal on the mouth. A platter of henna, barley, salt, and walnut bark is presented to the victim, and some is put into his mouth. The prayer fiI give thee food in this world, Thou wilt give me food in the otherfl is offered. Others pray, fioh God, grant us your pardon and bestow a good year upon usfl or fiOh God give us rain.fl (Laouste, 1926: 99, 100) A mouthful of the henna mixture is put into the mouth of the animal, and it is forced to swallow. The sacrificial knife is to cut the throat with a single stroke, just behind the uvula, as the henna passed from the mouth. (Hammoudi, 1993: 116) People rush forth to collect the gushing blood, regarding sacrificial blood as having magical properties. It is rubbed on the hands and feet to deter chapping. It is smeared on stomachs to avoid indigestion. A silver bracelet laid into the blood is believed to make a family prosperous. The sacrificial blood is considered to dispel jnun, and is dried and kept to cure patients struck by malicious jnun. Household lintels may be smeared with the blood (Westermarck 1923: 122 Œ 3) (Hammoudi, 1993: 118). In contrast, blood from 9
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10secular slaughter and all other spillage is considered dangerous, polluting, and must be avoided at all costs, and be carefully discarded. Sacred blood is cleansing, and people endeavor to make contact with it. The ground where the sacred blood falls is sprinkled with salt to drive away demons (Hammoudi 1993: 118). The sacrificial meat is divided into three parts: one for family, one for relatives, and one part for the poor. All the meat must be consumed within three days. All who partake of the meat are considered to share in the supernatural benefit of its holiness, and consumption is ritualized. Butchery must be undertaken with care. The first part of the animal to be eaten is the liver, considered to be the seat of deepest love. People must use their fingers to pull the meat from the bones, not their teeth. Knives must not be used to cut the meat, as it is an offense to the victim of a knife. The Ait Waryager children are not allowed to eat the throat as the knife pierced it. These boys should not share eating the same eye, or they will quarrel. The gall bladder of the animal is hung in the house, as it has great fibarakafl and as such is a powerful deterrent of malevolent spirits (Westermarck, 1923, 120 Œ 3). The skull and intact bones are carefully kept away from cats and dogs. These ritual actions mark this as a sanctified, martyred victim, bestowing grace and blessings on all who partake of it. It is not an ordinary meat carcass. Henna and the other Id al-Adha actions of sanctification and purification ensure that annual harvesting and sharing of male domestic ruminants will continue. Rappaport argued that the ritual quality of Tsembaga pig sacrifice ensured maintenance of their energy flow homeostat. Rural Amazigh ritual elements of Id al-Adha changed little in 100 years, between the earliest investigations by Westermarck and the most recent by Hammoudi, (1993:51). Both authors present evidence demonstrating similar domestic ruminant sacrifice fertility rituals existed 4000 years ago. One of the few changes Hammoudi noticed was that by the 1980™s, some adolescent boys educated in the Lycee™, who wished to demonstrate that they distained fibackwards traditionsfl, attempted to prevent women from hennaeing and ornamenting the sacrificial animals, so the ritual elements may indeed remain stable over generations in rural communities (1993: 53). Town populations do not enact such elaborate rituals, with explicit prayers for rain and fertile fields as the rural Amazigh, (Brown, 1976: 93), but each Muslim head of household is still obligated to make the sacrifice, wherever his household may be. The Id al-Adha Impact on Nutrition At nomadic, rural, town or urban level, Id al-Adha has a major impact on nutrition in the Muslim community. The equal distribution of meat to family, relatives, and the poor is a religious obligation. If the ideal 100-pound, 1 year old male goat or ram is sacrificed (Rauf, 2000), 50 pounds of meat is made available for distribution to this group. Each goat provides 32,544 calories, 688 grams fat, and 6150 grams of high quality protein (USDA handbook #8, Table #1, 1989). If one of ten members of a rural community sacrifices a full grown animal, each member of that community will receive as their portion about 5 pounds of meat. For rural families, the Id portion is most of the meat they eat in a year. Many heads of households 10
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11sacrifice one animal for each wife, and others sacrifice as many animals as they can possibly afford. The poor will crowd at the entrance to a wealthy man™s house, waiting for the abundance of meat to be handed out (Yehia, 2002). This is one time of year that the poor have an overabundance of meat, when they otherwise have none. Briggs recorded tribal diet and nutrition in the Saharan Amazigh populations between 1929 and 1933. Most rural people had meat to eat only twice a year, once at Id al-Adha, and one other time at the feast following Ramadan, or at a circumcision or wedding feast (Briggs, 1960: 237- 40). The urban middle class might have meat at three meals a week. He calculated the average Saharan village diet was about 2,500 calories per person, 1,485 of which came from dates and 527 of which were from cereals. The two pints of milk consumed daily, peanuts, and occasional eggs, were their most consistent sources of high quality protein (Briggs, 1960:239). Those who could afford to keep goats consumed their milk both fresh and sour, as well as butter and cheese. Hedgehogs, lizards and locusts were protein sources when nothing else was available. Hammoudi records that in the 1980™s only well-to-do Amazigh villagers had meat, though still not more than once a week (1993:35). Without the obligatory meat distribution of Id al-Adha, only the wealthy could afford to consume meat, and the poor would have none. Since half the male goat and sheep population is slaughtered for Id al-Adha, half of the available meat resource is shared evenly across the population rather than being consumed only by the wealthy. Thus, one effect of the ritual action is to redistribute meat protein resources more evenly through the population. Briggs reported malnutrition among the Amazigh during his investigations there. The nomads suffered from protein deficiency because they were reluctant to kill their animals apart from Id sacrifice, as their herd was their capital investment. Villagers had little meat, as they did not have the resources to maintain stock. He observed symptoms consistent with kwashiorkor in recently weaned infants, and noted that this was the highest period of mortality in nomadic children (Briggs, 1960: 255 Œ 7). The Id slaughter, and dispersion of meat through the population was a reliable, though brief, annual respite from chronic protein deficiency. Only male ruminants are considered suitable sacrifice, and this further manages energy flow within the system towards the optimal benefit for the human group. Lactating female ruminants are more efficient converters of plant material to consumable protein than males. The males can be slaughtered once to convert them to consumable protein, but the females can produce consumable milk for repeatable lactation periods of over 300 days each. This not only results in a greater total of calories and protein produced, but it is produced in small, sustained, useable quantities that do not present storage difficulties. The 50 pounds of goat meat must be eaten within 3 days. A doe can be milked, at a production curve from 8 liters per day diminishing gradually to one liter per day over a period of 300 days. This is a convenient amount for a family to consume daily, particularly when there is no possibility of refrigerated storage. A doe™s 11
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