It is 11 am on Sunday morning. Ali has
just got back from the market where he has bought the Eid sheep for
the family. He goes into the kitchen and asks Sara his wife who is
cooking lunch:
“Come take a look at the sheep for
this year. I just settled it in the garage”
“Oh great; can’t wait to see it.”
Sara responds.
Once in the garage, Sara takes a good
scrutinizing look at the sheep and feels its back.
“It is big and looks very healthy.
It must have been expensive.” She says.
Ali responds: “I paid a little bit
more that we had budgeted but it is worth it. I could not pass on
his one.”
Sara replies: ”Good choice and I am
very satisfied.”
“Do you doubt my choices?” Ali
asks.
Sara: “No not that but I know how
impatient you are when it comes to shopping in general and I want to
make sure that this isn’t the case of picking something just for
the sake of getting the chore out of the way, something we both
know you are infamous for. I know you are an excellent shopper once
you put your mind to it; it is just that that does not happen often.
Anyway, thank you and you are the best; that is why I married you.”
Ali replies with pride and a sense of
achievement “I am glad I got this over it and two weeks ahead of
time.”
“Case and point. Come have some tea
as I finish preparing lunch.” Relies Sara smilingly
Ali changes the topic: “Where are the
kids?”
Sara: “Soraya is upstairs playing
with her dolls and Adnan is at the neighbor’s house playing with
their two sons.”
Adnan is their 10 year-old son and
Soraya their 7 year-old daughter and.
Ali: “Get Soraya and I are going to
get Adnan so they can see the sheep.”
He then walks towards the neighbor’s
house while Sara yells out:
“Soraya, come down check out the
sheep. It is here.”
“Where? Where? I want to see it.”
Exclaims Soraya.
Sara walks her to the garage and asks:
“Look, isn’t it nice?”
”Yes it is. It is big too.” Affirms
Soraya.
Sara: “Come and feel it.”
Soraya takes a step back and says: ”is
it a nice sheep? I don’t want it to hurt me.”
Sara: “Oh don’t worry, it won’t
hurt you. I will hold its horns while you touch it. ”
Soraya approaches the sheep cautiously
and hesitantly touches its back.
Sara: ”Don’t be scared. This one
is very nice and hasn’t shown any resistance. In fact, your father
did not struggle at all to get it inside the garage.”
“Why do we always bring a sheep home
once a year mommy?” Asks Soraya seemingly out of the bleu.
“Good question my dear.” Responds
Sara and explains:
“We, Muslims, have a Eid called the
Greater Eid where we commemorate Prophet Abraham’s willingness to
sacrifice his son prophet Ismail as ordered by God. It was a test.
When it became clear that Abraham would carry God’s will, the
latter sent him a sheep to sacrifice instead.”
Ali arrives at the neighbor’s house
and knocks. Radouan, head of the household, answers the door.
“Hi Ali, come in.”
Ali: “Thank you. I came to get
Adnan. We have bought the sheep and I promised to get him as soon as
I brought it in.”
Radouan: “Already? That is good. How
is the market this year? I have yet to get one myself.”
Ali: “This year is very good. Plenty
of nice choices and the prices are reasonable.”
Radouan: “Good to hear. I am still
going to wait few more days.”
”Well, if you wait, you may not get
what you want at the price you want.” Says Ali hinting to a slight
sense of urgency.
Radouan: ”There is a cost to
everything so I am going to wait.”
Ali: “I hope you will find what you
are looking for when the time comes.”
Radouan: “Thank you. Have a seat and
stay for tea while I get Adnan.”
Ali: “Would love to but I really need
to get going. Another time. Thank you.”
Adnan comes down; Ali informs him that
the sheep is inside the house. They walk back.
In to the garage rushes Adnan with his
dad Ali behind him.
Ali says: ”Easy Adnan and don’t run
to it. You may scare it and provoke unwanted reaction.”
Adnan pads and feels the sheep all
over. He looks very happy.
Ali: “Kids, remember that this is not
a toy you can play with so be very careful around it. Also do not
try and feed it. It has its hay so no fries or Mac&Cheese,
especially you Soraya.”
Soraya”Ok daddy.”
The family goes back inside the house.
Later that afternoon, Soraya and Adnan ask their mom:
“Mami, we want to go watch the
sheep.”
Sara: ”Ok, you can go but stay a way
and no matter what, do not get close to him. Adnan see to it that
your sister does not do that.”
Adnan: ”We won’t. We’ll just
watch from a distance. You do have him on a rope so he can’t come
close right?’ ”That is correct.” Affirms Sara.
The kids go to the garage and sit
within a safe distance. They watch him as the sheep watches them
back at times, other times eats, and other times lies down.”
Soraya notices that the sheep digs into
the hay when eating and that he goes for what looks like green dry
sweet peas.
As the days go by, the kids increase
their visits to the garage. They noticed that the sheep is quite nice
and friendly. As they grew more and more comfortable around the
sheep, they got closer and closer to the point where they mustard
enough courage to actually pad it.
One day, Ali comes home and didn’t
see his kids. He asks his wife:
“Where are the kids?”
Sara: “With Massoud. Where else?”
Ali: ”Massoud who?”
Sara: “The sheep. I did not tell you?
They have named him Massoud and they are spending much of their free
time with it. I must admit he is quite different and quite
domesticated. I even took the rope off of him to give him more space
to roam around in the garage.”
Ali: ”Are you sure that is a good
idea? ”
Sara: “Yeh, the garage-door is always
closed and Massoud behaves quite nicely. This sheep must have grown
up around kids.”
Ali: “Easy with the Massoud thing.
It is a sheep don’t forget. Still we cannot have him loose around
the kids.”
Ali calls his kids out to come inside
the house.
Soraya asks: “Can Massoud come too?”
Ali: ”No he cannot.”
Soraya: “But daddy he is very nice.
He can stay in my room.”
Ali: ”Come here my dear. The sheep
makes a lot of mess and he would not be comfortable inside the house.
He is happiest there.”
Soraya nods in agreement hesitantly.
Sara: “What do you want for dinner?”
Soraya first to answer: “Sweet peas
and lots of sweet peas.”
Sara: ”What happened to Mac&Chesse?”
”I learned that sweet peas are good
for you.” Responds Soraya with a smirk on her face.
”Yes, sweet peas are very good for
you.” Comments Sara with a slight expression of suspicion.
Comes dinner time, the family sits
around the table. Everyone is eating normally except for Soraya who
just collects sweet peas and put then on her plate.
Ali: ”What is it with you and sweet
peas all of a sudden?”
Soraya: ”Nothing. I just like them
and I want to save them for a later since I am not hungry right now.”
With slight sense of confusion Ali nods
“Ok!”
Soraya takes her sweet peas up to her
room with her. When it was time to watch the sheep the next day, she
sneaks the peas with her and puts the plate before Massoud. The
latter digs in and finishes the plate with in seconds. Soraya’s
face glows with happiness upon that sight.
The day of Eid has arrived. Ali goes
to Eid prayer and comes back home. After about an hour or so, Hamza,
the local butcher arrives for the sacrifice.
After breakfast, Hamza informs Ali that
he needs to get to work as he has other homes too visit.
Ali: ”Sara, Hamza is here and we are
ready for the sacrifice.”
Sara: ”Ok, I will be rather there.
Let me get the kids.”
She then calls her kids out: ”Kids,
come downstairs; your dad is back and we are ready for the
sacrifice.”
They come down running and go straight
to the garage.
As Ali and Hamza start positioning the
sheep for sacrifice, Adnan’s face goes grim and Soraya’s eyes
water. Before long, Soraya starts crying and asks her mom:
‘Why are they going to hurt him? He
is my friend.”
Sara: ”Oh no, they are not going to
hurt him.”
Adnan starts crying in turn and runs up
to his room.
Soraya: ”Mom, please tell them to not
hurt him, tell them to stop.”
Ali asks Hamza to let the sheep free
until he deals with his kids. He gathers them in the kitchen and
says:
“You see, we are sacrificing Massoud
so he can go to heaven. This is what our religion recommends and we
are acting on that recommendation.”
Soraya: “Don’t hurt Massoud.”
Ali: ”We are not going to hurt him
and he is not going to feel pain. Don’t you want mommy to make you
your favorite Kababs?”
Soraya goes on another round of crying
and responds: “No, I don’t eat meat anymore.”
Sara jumps in “What are talking about
Ali? We are not going to hurt Massoud and we are going to take to the
farm where he can live happily ever after. I am going to shower the
kids now. In the meantime, go get us another sheep, a bad mean
sheep.”
Ali: “Ok I get it. Go shower and
change and I will get another one.”
As soon as the kids head upstairs with
their mother, Ali turns to Hamza and says:
“Let us get this over with before
they come back.”
Sara shows up alone: “They are taking
a shower; hide the head as soon as possible.”
Ali responds with a perplexed look:
”Ok, we’ll do that.”
Hamza: ”Kids today are very soft.
You are the fourth house I work on today and I have seen something
similar in at least one of them. This trend is on the increase year
after year. “
Ali: ”Well, it is different times and
a different generation. It is true that at their age, we wanted to
actually carry the sacrifice ourselves and our parents had to fight
us to convince us otherwise but we cannot compare. That being said,
I kind of understand.”
Hamza: ”Ali, are you ok? I hope you
are joking when you said you understand. They are kids and it is
only a sheep.”
Not wanting to engage this topic
further Ali nods agreeably and carries on with the operation.
After all was said and done, Ali and
Sara succeeded in convincing their kids that Massoud lives in a far
away farm, to preempt a visit-request at any point down the road, and
that he is very happy.
Later that evening, Ali stepped outside
and he ran into his neighbor Radouan.
Radouan: “Hi Ali, how did the sheep
turn out?”
Ali: “The most difficult and
complicated Eid we have had so far.”
Radouan: ”What happened?”
Ali: ”The kids did not want us to
sacrifice the sheep. They even named him Massoud, can you believe
that?”
Radouan: “To be frank with you Ali,
you had no business bringing the sheep in two weeks out. What were
you thinking? Remember when I told that there is a cost to
everything? I was going to say more the other day when you informed
me that you have brought tone home that early but I refrained in the
last minute. My sheep came home last night and the kids didn’t se
it until this morning. Piece of cake. That being said, I confess
that I had the same experience with mine few years back. It was a
mess. Samir my son has not eaten lamb since and he would still not
eat it even if you paid him.”
Soraya
and Massoud the Sheep
It is 11 am on Sunday morning. Ali has
just got back from the market where he has bought the Eid sheep for
the family. He goes into the kitchen and asks Sara his wife who is
cooking lunch:
“Come take a look at the sheep for
this year. I just settled it in the garage”
“Oh great; can’t wait to see it.”
Sara responds.
Once in the garage, Sara takes a good
scrutinizing look at the sheep and feels its back.
“It is big and looks very healthy.
It must have been expensive.” She says.
Ali responds: “I paid a little bit
more that we had budgeted but it is worth it. I could not pass on
his one.”
Sara replies: ”Good choice and I am
very satisfied.”
“Do you doubt my choices?” Ali
asks.
Sara: “No not that but I know how
impatient you are when it comes to shopping in general and I want to
make sure that this isn’t the case of picking something just for
the sake of getting the chore out of the way, something we both
know you are infamous for. I know you are an excellent shopper once
you put your mind to it; it is just that that does not happen often.
Anyway, thank you and you are the best; that is why I married you.”
Ali replies with pride and a sense of
achievement “I am glad I got this over it and two weeks ahead of
time.”
“Case and point. Come have some tea
as I finish preparing lunch.” Relies Sara smilingly
Ali changes the topic: “Where are the
kids?”
Sara: “Soraya is upstairs playing
with her dolls and Adnan is at the neighbor’s house playing with
their two sons.”
Adnan is their 10 year-old son and
Soraya their 7 year-old daughter and.
Ali: “Get Soraya and I are going to
get Adnan so they can see the sheep.”
He then walks towards the neighbor’s
house while Sara yells out:
“Soraya, come down check out the
sheep. It is here.”
“Where? Where? I want to see it.”
Exclaims Soraya.
Sara walks her to the garage and asks:
“Look, isn’t it nice?”
”Yes it is. It is big too.” Affirms
Soraya.
Sara: “Come and feel it.”
Soraya takes a step back and says: ”is
it a nice sheep? I don’t want it to hurt me.”
Sara: “Oh don’t worry, it won’t
hurt you. I will hold its horns while you touch it. ”
Soraya approaches the sheep cautiously
and hesitantly touches its back.
Sara: ”Don’t be scared. This one
is very nice and hasn’t shown any resistance. In fact, your father
did not struggle at all to get it inside the garage.”
“Why do we always bring a sheep home
once a year mommy?” Asks Soraya seemingly out of the bleu.
“Good question my dear.” Responds
Sara and explains:
“We, Muslims, have a Eid called the
Greater Eid where we commemorate Prophet Abraham’s willingness to
sacrifice his son prophet Ismail as ordered by God. It was a test.
When it became clear that Abraham would carry God’s will, the
latter sent him a sheep to sacrifice instead.”
Ali arrives at the neighbor’s house
and knocks. Radouan, head of the household, answers the door.
“Hi Ali, come in.”
Ali: “Thank you. I came to get
Adnan. We have bought the sheep and I promised to get him as soon as
I brought it in.”
Radouan: “Already? That is good. How
is the market this year? I have yet to get one myself.”
Ali: “This year is very good. Plenty
of nice choices and the prices are reasonable.”
Radouan: “Good to hear. I am still
going to wait few more days.”
”Well, if you wait, you may not get
what you want at the price you want.” Says Ali hinting to a slight
sense of urgency.
Radouan: ”There is a cost to
everything so I am going to wait.”
Ali: “I hope you will find what you
are looking for when the time comes.”
Radouan: “Thank you. Have a seat and
stay for tea while I get Adnan.”
Ali: “Would love to but I really need
to get going. Another time. Thank you.”
Adnan comes down; Ali informs him that
the sheep is inside the house. They walk back.
In to the garage rushes Adnan with his
dad Ali behind him.
Ali says: ”Easy Adnan and don’t run
to it. You may scare it and provoke unwanted reaction.”
Adnan pads and feels the sheep all
over. He looks very happy.
Ali: “Kids, remember that this is not
a toy you can play with so be very careful around it. Also do not
try and feed it. It has its hay so no fries or Mac&Cheese,
especially you Soraya.”
Soraya”Ok daddy.”
The family goes back inside the house.
Later that afternoon, Soraya and Adnan ask their mom:
“Mami, we want to go watch the
sheep.”
Sara: ”Ok, you can go but stay a way
and no matter what, do not get close to him. Adnan see to it that
your sister does not do that.”
Adnan: ”We won’t. We’ll just
watch from a distance. You do have him on a rope so he can’t come
close right?’ ”That is correct.” Affirms Sara.
The kids go to the garage and sit
within a safe distance. They watch him as the sheep watches them
back at times, other times eats, and other times lies down.”
Soraya notices that the sheep digs into
the hay when eating and that he goes for what looks like green dry
sweet peas.
As the days go by, the kids increase
their visits to the garage. They noticed that the sheep is quite nice
and friendly. As they grew more and more comfortable around the
sheep, they got closer and closer to the point where they mustard
enough courage to actually pad it.
One day, Ali comes home and didn’t
see his kids. He asks his wife:
“Where are the kids?”
Sara: “With Massoud. Where else?”
Ali: ”Massoud who?”
Sara: “The sheep. I did not tell you?
They have named him Massoud and they are spending much of their free
time with it. I must admit he is quite different and quite
domesticated. I even took the rope off of him to give him more space
to roam around in the garage.”
Ali: ”Are you sure that is a good
idea? ”
Sara: “Yeh, the garage-door is always
closed and Massoud behaves quite nicely. This sheep must have grown
up around kids.”
Ali: “Easy with the Massoud thing.
It is a sheep don’t forget. Still we cannot have him loose around
the kids.”
Ali calls his kids out to come inside
the house.
Soraya asks: “Can Massoud come too?”
Ali: ”No he cannot.”
Soraya: “But daddy he is very nice.
He can stay in my room.”
Ali: ”Come here my dear. The sheep
makes a lot of mess and he would not be comfortable inside the house.
He is happiest there.”
Soraya nods in agreement hesitantly.
Sara: “What do you want for dinner?”
Soraya first to answer: “Sweet peas
and lots of sweet peas.”
Sara: ”What happened to Mac&Chesse?”
”I learned that sweet peas are good
for you.” Responds Soraya with a smirk on her face.
”Yes, sweet peas are very good for
you.” Comments Sara with a slight expression of suspicion.
Comes dinner time, the family sits
around the table. Everyone is eating normally except for Soraya who
just collects sweet peas and put then on her plate.
Ali: ”What is it with you and sweet
peas all of a sudden?”
Soraya: ”Nothing. I just like them
and I want to save them for a later since I am not hungry right now.”
With slight sense of confusion Ali nods
“Ok!”
Soraya takes her sweet peas up to her
room with her. When it was time to watch the sheep the next day, she
sneaks the peas with her and puts the plate before Massoud. The
latter digs in and finishes the plate with in seconds. Soraya’s
face glows with happiness upon that sight.
The day of Eid has arrived. Ali goes
to Eid prayer and comes back home. After about an hour or so, Hamza,
the local butcher arrives for the sacrifice.
After breakfast, Hamza informs Ali that
he needs to get to work as he has other homes too visit.
Ali: ”Sara, Hamza is here and we are
ready for the sacrifice.”
Sara: ”Ok, I will be rather there.
Let me get the kids.”
She then calls her kids out: ”Kids,
come downstairs; your dad is back and we are ready for the
sacrifice.”
They come down running and go straight
to the garage.
As Ali and Hamza start positioning the
sheep for sacrifice, Adnan’s face goes grim and Soraya’s eyes
water. Before long, Soraya starts crying and asks her mom:
‘Why are they going to hurt him? He
is my friend.”
Sara: ”Oh no, they are not going to
hurt him.”
Adnan starts crying in turn and runs up
to his room.
Soraya: ”Mom, please tell them to not
hurt him, tell them to stop.”
Ali asks Hamza to let the sheep free
until he deals with his kids. He gathers them in the kitchen and
says:
“You see, we are sacrificing Massoud
so he can go to heaven. This is what our religion recommends and we
are acting on that recommendation.”
Soraya: “Don’t hurt Massoud.”
Ali: ”We are not going to hurt him
and he is not going to feel pain. Don’t you want mommy to make you
your favorite Kababs?”
Soraya goes on another round of crying
and responds: “No, I don’t eat meat anymore.”
Sara jumps in “What are talking about
Ali? We are not going to hurt Massoud and we are going to take to the
farm where he can live happily ever after. I am going to shower the
kids now. In the meantime, go get us another sheep, a bad mean
sheep.”
Ali: “Ok I get it. Go shower and
change and I will get another one.”
As soon as the kids head upstairs with
their mother, Ali turns to Hamza and says:
“Let us get this over with before
they come back.”
Sara shows up alone: “They are taking
a shower; hide the head as soon as possible.”
Ali responds with a perplexed look:
”Ok, we’ll do that.”
Hamza: ”Kids today are very soft.
You are the fourth house I work on today and I have seen something
similar in at least one of them. This trend is on the increase year
after year. “
Ali: ”Well, it is different times and
a different generation. It is true that at their age, we wanted to
actually carry the sacrifice ourselves and our parents had to fight
us to convince us otherwise but we cannot compare. That being said,
I kind of understand.”
Hamza: ”Ali, are you ok? I hope you
are joking when you said you understand. They are kids and it is
only a sheep.”
Not wanting to engage this topic
further Ali nods agreeably and carries on with the operation.
After all was said and done, Ali and
Sara succeeded in convincing their kids that Massoud lives in a far
away farm, to preempt a visit-request at any point down the road, and
that he is very happy.
Later that evening, Ali stepped outside
and he ran into his neighbor Radouan.
Radouan: “Hi Ali, how did the sheep
turn out?”
Ali: “The most difficult and
complicated Eid we have had so far.”
Radouan: ”What happened?”
Ali: ”The kids did not want us to
sacrifice the sheep. They even named him Massoud, can you believe
that?”
Radouan: “To be frank with you Ali,
you had no business bringing the sheep in two weeks out. What were
you thinking? Remember when I told that there is a cost to
everything? I was going to say more the other day when you informed
me that you have brought tone home that early but I refrained in the
last minute. My sheep came home last night and the kids didn’t se
it until this morning. Piece of cake. That being said, I confess
that I had the same experience with mine few years back. It was a
mess. Samir my son has not eaten lamb since and he would still not
eat it even if you paid him.”
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