Muslims offer cows as sacrifice for Hari Raya Aidiladha

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SUNDAY, Muslims across the world will celebrate Hari Raya Aidiladha (Eid al-Adha) or “Feast of Sacrifice” — a religious day to mark the end of the annual Haj pilgrimage to Mecca. During the celebration, Muslims commemorate and remember the trials of Prophet Ibrahim.

Like Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Muslims begin the day by performing Eid prayers in a large congregation at the mosque. This is followed by the ceremony of sacrificing cows (korban) where a percentage of the meat from the animals will be donated to poor and needy families.

At the As-Salam mosque in Taman Petaling Utama, Petaling Jaya, preparations were in full swing days before Aidiladha. Tents have been erected within the mosque grounds. Tomorrow, 10 cows will be slaughtered.

Ready for picking: The AR Meats Trading Sdn Bhd cattle farm in Rantau Panjang, Klang.

“Each beneficiary will receive three kilograms of beef. Those who will receive the beef comprise people from our mosque committee, people from the neighbourhood as well as orphans, single mothers and the poor,” said As-Salam mosque assistant secretary Hamzah Harip.

“Last year, we had a total of 16 cows. Since our preparations were a bit last minute this time around, we only managed to get 10 cows, with one donated by the Selangor Govern-ment,” he added.

The sacrificial slaughter of cows will be carried out at various suraus and mosques all over Selangor.

At the Darul Ehsan mosque in SS15, Subang Jaya, a community gotong-royong was carried out last Saturday to spruce up the place for the Aidiladha celebrations.

In full swing: Tents being put up at the As-Salam mosque in Taman Petaling Utama.

StarMetro managed to tag along with mosque chairman Mohd Ghazali Daud and committee secretary Rosly Aziz on a road trip to AR Meats Trading Sdn Bhd cattle farm in Rantau Panjang, Klang, where they sourced the cows.

“We have been sourcing our cows from here for the past 10 years. The owner is a very reliable supplier. As we have limited space at the mosque grounds, the supplier will deliver the cows to us tomorrow morning. The cows are mostly imported from Thailand,” said Rosly.

There are certain criteria in choosing a cow for the sacrificial ceremony.

“The most important factor is the age. The cow must be more than two years old. The animal must not be physically handicapped nor have any diseases. Lastly, only male cows will be chosen for korban as we don’t want to risk harming a female cow which might be pregnant,” explained Rosly, who added that the mosque has purchased 16 cows this year for Aidiladha.

Off to mosque: The cows chosen for slaughter being loaded onto a waiting lorry.

The average market price for one kilogramme of beef is RM10.

Rosly said the meat from the first two cows they slaughter tomorrow would be made into soup and served to the Darul Ehsan mosque congregation after Zohor prayers.

“Last year we had a bigger feast where we prepared other dishes for the people in the neighbourhood. This year, we will stick to a simple ceremony.”

This year, AR Meats has so far brought in over 1,400 cows from Thailand. The farm sits on a 1.6ha site and houses 350 heads of cows. “We receive an average of 500 orders for sacrificial cows two weeks prior to Aidiladha. The meat from the rest of the herd will be sold to meat traders to be sold at the wet markets,” said AR Meats director Shahrom Md Nor.