Animal sacrifice for Muslim feast day now controversial

ACROSS Istanbul – in back yards, along side streets, at parks and even on apartment balconies – the throats of thousands of struggling sheep were slashed in celebration of the start of the annual Muslim Feast of Sacrifice. But this year, centuries-old tradition has slammed headlong into the modern era of city lifestyles, globalized rules of conduct and changing social values in one of the world’s most rapidly urbanizing nations. The annual slaughter has embroiled health authorities, religious leaders, politicians eager to see Turkey join the European Union and animal rights activists in a debate that intersects many of Turkey’s most contentious social struggles. Tradition is not easily discarded, however, in a nation where 98 percent of the population is Muslim and in a city with a large population of rural immigrants. To many Muslims, the annual sacrifice of an animal, most commonly a sheep or cow, is one of Islam’s principal tenets, representing devotion to God and a sharing of wealth. After the sacrifice, families divide the meat into thirds, with equal portions for their family, neighbors and needy members of the community. City fathers have attempted to reconcile traditional values, nurtured in Turkey’s agrarian past, with the realities of cramped urban living by establishing 169 municipal sacrifice centers throughout this metropolis of 12 million people for the three days of slaughter, which continues through Wednesday.