The Directorate of Religious Affairs in Türkiye said they are slaughtering more than 5000 cows in Uganda
By Aisha Muusa, |Update : 28.06.2023
KAMPALA, Uganda -Muslims across Uganda are celebrating Eid al Adha, the feast of the sacrifice that marks the end of this year’s Hajj. Celebrations start with Muslims going to prayer grounds, to perform the Eid prayers, which is followed by the ritual sacrifice of animals, to commemorate the willingness of Prophet Ibrahiim to sacrifice his son to show obedience to Allah. The day is also a chance for charity, the meat of sacrificed animal has to be shared those who are in need. Different charities from Türkiye use the occasion to deliver humanitarian aid to different parts of the country.
The Mufti of Uganda Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje led prayers at the national Mosque, Old Kampala. He voiced concern over continued violence in Sudan and expressed hope that the Eid holiday would provide an opportunity to cease hostilities among the Sudanese people. He encouraged the faithfuls to fulfil the noble duty of slaughtering Kurban.
The Turkish ambassador to Uganda Mehmet Fatih Ak speaking to Anadolu underscored the importance of solidarity and making those in need happy. “This is a day of utmost significance, not only for us, but also for humanity to remind ourselves of the sacrifices we make for the good of everyone. I want to size also this opportunity to call upon more sacrifices as we unite our efforts to fight poverty and maintain peace,” he said.
Fikret Kerem Alp, the former ambassador of Türkiye to Uganda led a delegation to deliver donations of benevolent Turkish Muslims, to assist numerous families in Uganda.
“I served here for four years and now on the occasion of Eid, I return in order to celebrate the festivities and help out the beautiful people of Uganda. I hope I can invite more and more generous people to come and assist our brothers and sisters.” he told Anadolu.
Turkish charities spread the spirit of Eid.
The Directorate of Religious Affairs in Türkiye said they are slaughtering more than 5000 cows in Uganda. Speaking to Anadolu in Kampala, İlyas BULUT, Diyanet coordinator in Uganda said 5750 cows will be slaughtered.
“I am here on behalf of Türkiye Diyanet, we are slaughtering more than 5000 cattle in 11 different locations. And after slaughtering, we are going pack the meat and then distribute it to the Ugandan people through imams. Prisons is another area we shall reach out to”. The meat of Kurban is holy, which is a worship for us and in we will deliver all the meat to the needy people,” he said.
“One major challenge is, some cattle appear huge, but when we check its teeth, it’s not over two years, so we cannot slaughter an animal below two years for Kurban,” he added.
He explained that the cost of cattle in Uganda is fair compared elsewhere.
“Uganda is a good country, a safe country and the cattle, the cows, the sheep, the goats, are all in abundance here, and the prices are average, not expensive and whoever wants to make slaughter here, they can easily come. Ugandan people are very nice, the country is green, the climate is not so hard for us, the Turkish NGOs which would like to come, they should not be scared. There are so many people who are in need so you can come here and make your donations to these people, make your help to these people.” Ilyas said.
According to data from the agricultural ministry and the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Uganda has 14.2 million cattle, 16 million goats, 4.5 million sheep and 47.6 million poultry.
The country exports much of its livestock products and live animals, mainly dairy products, eggs, meat and meat products.
Osman Mohamed Ahmed, the executive director of Zumar Foundation, a humanitarian NGO told Anadolu that they are slaughtering more than 300cows for the needy in and around Kampala. Many beneficiaries that Anadolu spoke to expressed their gratitude to the the Turkish people for the gift of Kurban.
“The economy is not favorable, I would not have afforded to buy meat for this day, may Allah bless the Turkish donors, Kezaabu Asia told Anadolu”
Sheema spend Eid al Adha unable to make the ‘Qurban’
The chairman of Sheema Muslims said there was no Kurban received this year but said there is hope that for coming years. “We previously had Kurban in Sheema and everyone in the community benefited out of it, without segregation. In fact, majority of the beneficiaries are non-Muslims, because they are the majority in the community. Before the Turkish started slaughtering here, such a thing had never happened before. Today, very many people from surrounding districts flock Sheema to get meat and this is a very good gesture, some people have decided to embrace Islam because of the humane gesture”. We are grateful hope we to get other partners through the connections we have,” he said.
Sheema, in Western Uganda has a situation similar to that of Türkiye, many Muslim Turks were systematically annihilated during and after the period of independence from the Ottoman Empire. The same happened in Sheema, it is the only part of Uganda where Muslims were systematically annihilated, because of being Muslims.
The member of parliament for Sheema, Hon Dickson Katesh launched an Interfaith project intended to restore unity among people of all faiths, to ensure that never again should the area ever witness differences based on religion.
Source: AA
