Holiday celebrates the prophet Ibrahim, who sacrificed his son to please Allah.
Sharlee Joy DiMenichi
The affluent and those in need are equal on Eid-ul-Adha.
On the holiday, called the Feast of Sacrifice in English, Muslims traditionally slaughter an animal and divide the meat evenly among family, neighbors and those who cannot afford to buy food.
Magdy Hagag of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey, a mosque on Route 1, said dividing the meat enables those with limited means to enjoy as nutritious a holiday meal as their wealthier counterparts.
"It becomes an equal thing," Mr. Hagag said.
During Eid-ul-Adha, which began Sunday and ended Tuesday, Muslims commemorate the Koran’s story of the prophet Ibrahim, who was willing to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, to please Allah. At the last moment, Allah provided a sheep as a substitute for the young man. Believers may slaughter a sheep, goat or cow.
Modern Muslims imitate the practice of Prophet Mohammad, who recognized Ibrahim’s devotion by sacrificing an animal annually, Mr. Hagag said.
"He used to slaughter his sacrifice and give most of the meat to the needy," Mr. Hagag said.
Rather than slaughtering an animal themselves, as Muslims in agricultural countries do, many ISCJ members pay to have an animal killed, according to Islamic dietary laws, at a slaughterhouse and have the butcher distribute the meat to those in need, Mr. Hagag said.
Mr. Hagag said ISCJ members contributed $12,000 to the Islamic Crescent, a statewide Islamic charity that provides needy Muslims and non-Muslims with vouchers for meat slaughtered according to Islamic dietary laws.
To be considered halal, or acceptable for Muslims to eat, meat must be slaughtered by an adult Muslim man in good mental health, who uses an extremely sharp knife and prays before the slaughter, said Rasheed Ahmed, founder and president of the Muslim Consumer Group, a national organization that inspects the halal practices of food vendors. Mr. Ahmed said halal animals must be fed only vegetarian feed and may not be processed with any alcohol-based products, in keeping with Islam’s prohibition on consuming alcohol. Halal animals must not be shot before slaughter and their throats and blood vessels must be cut simultaneously to avoid prolonging their suffering, Mr. Ahmed said. Abu Jamal, director of the Islamic Crescent, said he expects the organization to provide halal meat for about 400 families in Middlesex, Hudson, Passaic and Camden counties.
Mr. Jamal said the group also offered meat to about 750 inmates of New Jersey prisons. Mr. Jamal said that while the Islamic Crescent distributes only halal meat, more than half of those who receive meat vouchers are non-Muslim.
Mr. Jamal said both those who contribute to the poor and those who receive holiday meat are equally blessed.
"Islam speaks of balance," he said. "There’s blessing in giving and there’s blessing in receiving."