Inflation Pushes Eid Al Adha Sheep Out of Reach for Many Moroccan Families

While the average income of Moroccans is 30,000 dirhams per year in some regions and does not exceed 9,000 dirhams in others, the sheep costs between 3,000 and 6,000 dirhams, or a third of the annual income in a single day, notes the economic analyst Rachid Lahlou with the site Al3omk, however pointing out that Muslims are not obliged to practice the ritual sacrifice of the sheep, as it is a Sunnah and not an obligation. Moreover, he notes that the expense for Eid is burdensome due to the current economic situation, in particular low wages and successive droughts, which reduces the number of livestock, which varies between 4 and 6 million, while the former Minister of Agriculture, current Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, had promised to reach 8 million.

According to the expert, resorting to borrowing is not a solution, as Islamic law does not allow a person to borrow with interest to fulfill a Sunnah. According to his explanations, requesting loans on occasions will weaken individual income in a hardly manageable way. Recalling that King Mohammed VI sacrifices the tradition every year, on behalf of all Moroccans, the economic expert believes that Moroccans can renounce this religious practice. Stressing that this religious occasion has taken on a social character, Lahlou believes that the intervention of religious actors to educate citizens and encourage them to balance between income and expenditure is necessary. If the economic situation remains unchanged until next year, this will inevitably lead to Moroccans abandoning this practice, analyzes the expert.