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| The men pray in the front and the women pray in the back. |
Wikipedia's story behind Tabaski:
When Abraham attempted to cut Ishmael's throat, he was astonished to see that Ishmael was unharmed and instead, he found a dead ram which was slaughtered. Abraham had passed the test by his willingness to carry out God's command.[1][13]
This is mentioned in the Quran as follows:
100 "O my Lord! Grant me a righteous (son)!"
101 So We gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear.
102 Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: "O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view!" (The son) said: "O my father! Do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if Allah so wills one practising Patience and Constancy!"
103 So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice),
104 We called out to him "O Abraham!
105 "Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!" – thus indeed do We reward those who do right.
106 For this was obviously a trial–
107 And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:
108 And We left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times:
109 "Peace and salutation to Abraham!"
110 Thus indeed do We reward those who do right.
111 For he was one of our believing Servants.
112 And We gave him the good news of Isaac – a prophet – one of the Righteous.
So, every year, Muslim families sacrifice a sheep as part of their second largest religious celebration after Ramadan. Aïsseta's family is Muslim, so I asked if I could go with them to pray and celebrate on Tabaski. She was more than happy to bring me!
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| Their family purchased this ram for the equivalent of $70 USD a few days before the celebration. |
I'd just had a new dress made by the tailor across the street from her boutique. The material cost the equivalent of $4 and it cost $5 to make. $9 for a perfectly fitting dress? Yes, please! I take full advantage of having a tailor here! I wanted to buy a scarf I found in the market. The vendor asked $4 for it. I brought Aïsseta with me and I only ended up paying $3 for it. Win! It's very helpful to have a local come with me so I don't get the foreigner's price. I'd also had my hair braided the day before the celebration. I was ready for a world of pain after watching the little girls cry while getting their hair braided, but I think all of those years of sports increased my pain tolerance because it really didn't hurt that bad. The hair dresser asked every 5 minutes if it hurt because it hurt all of the other whites she braided. But, it was totally fine!
I went to the mosque with the family in the morning. Everyone was dressed in their new clothes for the celebration. Since it's such a large community, the prayer was held on a soccer dirt field. The boys went to the front to pray with the men and I followed Aïsseta and her daughter and small son to pray with the women. We shared a prayer mat and it was time for me to follow the masses. The prayer ceremony was short and silent. I followed all of the bending and kneeling and bowing. There was one point where everyone starting humming at the same time, breaking the silence. It gave me chills, it was so beautiful. I'm easily moved by large groups of people sharing moments together. The silence of the prayer was incredibly powerful!
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| The women finishing praying on Tabaski in Burkina Faso |
After the prayer, the festivities began! All of the children ran over to the side where people had setup their carts to sell homemade snacks and candy and toys. I took full advantage of this time to take a ton of pictures!
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| Aïsseta's mini boutique to sell goods |
And then I took a lot more pictures!
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| My favorite people to hang out with in the evenings in town :) |
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| The females of the family...and little Abadou! |
The day of Tabaski was also the day of the market, so I went with
Aïsseta into town and sat at the boutique for a little bit. That was when the dad had gone home to kill the ram. Again, so glad I didn't have to watch. Around lunch time, we headed back to her house and I sat under a tree with her neighbors' kids and my puppy. And then we FEASTED! And I say 'we' because Simba was so excited about all of the bones and meat to chew on. My body was just so stoked to have so much protein! I spent most of the afternoon chatting with people and enjoying the shade.
Later that evening, there was a dance at one of the main restaurants in town for the teens and young men and women. I stopped by to check it out and those kids were having so much fun! They'd been looking forward to it for weeks because one of Burkina Faso's rappers would be performing there. I was exhausted and gearing up for the celebration the next day at the Catholic church, so I hung out at the boutique and then went home.
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| You would never guess, but these are actually some of the happiest people I know. Smiling for pictures is not a thing here... |
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| Me and my friend who is a volunteer in Boussé from Japan |
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