Rabat – This year’s Eid Al Adha will be the fourth time Morocco canceled the Islamic feast of sacrifice in the country’s history.
King Mohammed VI today issued directives urging Moroccans to not perform Eid Al Adha due to severe economic and social challenges caused by six years of drought.
The decision also comes as part of Islamic law and verses, which emphasize the need for measures to end citizens’ hardship and crisis that could harm people with lower incomes.
In his directives, the monarch said that while celebrating the feast of sacrifice is an obligatory act and Sunnah, the sacrifice is a “confirmed Sunnah when it is feasible.”
He explained: “Performing it under these difficult circumstances would cause real harm to many of our people, particularly those with limited incomes.”
While the decision might appear to be a first of its kind, this is not the first time Morocco has decided to cancel Eid Al Adha.
The North African kingdom made similar decisions decades ago under the reign of the late King Hassan II.
The first time was in 1963 when the late King announced the cancellation of the sacrifice ritual during the “Sand War” between Morocco and Algeria. The war impacted the two countries’ economies, prompting the decision to cancel the feast to avoid unbearable impacts on citizens.
The second time was when Morocco suffered from a severe drought in 1981, while the third time was in 1996, due to long months of a drought that peaked in 1995.
Several reports have highlighted the impacts of drought in Morocco’s history.
“The highest impact by far was felt in 1981 (nearly USD 1 billion), and in 2000, the cereals deficit reached a value of about USD 530 million, or nearly 4% of government expenditure for that fiscal year (FAO 2018),” according to a USAID report.
The country reeled from similar conditions in 1995 largely due to another drought crisis.
“The severe 1994-1995 drought resulted in larger than planned fiscal deficits in 1994 and 1995,” a State Department overview detailed.
On Tuesday, France 24 published an interview in which Agriculture Minister Ahmed Bouari shared concerns about the drought situation. He noted that water reserves in Moroccan dams do not exceed 4.6 billion cubic meters, with a filling rate of 28%.
Due to drought, Morocco has increasingly turned to the international market to import products necessary to supply the country’s needs.
Some of the measures include importing livestock from countries like Romania and Australia. Bringing meat from the international market has long been an issue for some Moroccans, with many expressing concerns about the quality of the products.
