As Mohammed loads a sheep into a van, to be taken to his home where it will be slaughtered in his back yard, the themes of Eid al-Adha become a lived reality for him, his family and his friends.
“This is a tradition rooted in Abrahamic foundations – doing it by your own hands is an embodied practice,” the Sydney man says, standing in the cold in his uncle’s back yard in western Sydney.
“It’s about maintaining our traditions, our culture.”
Mohammed’s name has been changed to protect his identity, as he is uncertain whether some of the rituals around halal hand-slaughtering meet the regulations around the slaughter of livestock.
Traditionally, Eid al-Adha is celebrated to mark the end of the hajj pilgrimage and to honour the prophet Abraham.
According to Islamic teachings, Abraham was instructed to sacrifice his son Ismael to Allah, in a test of faith.
God then replaced Ismael with a sheep just before the sacrifice was to take place. Muslims mark the day by also sacrificing livestock and distributing the meat, known as qurban, to family, friends and as charity.
In Australia, this process has mostly been organised by major Muslim charities, due to the regulations around livestock slaughter.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act says it is an offence to commit an act of aggravated cruelty against an animal that results in its death.
But the Act provides for a defence if the slaughter is carried out “in accordance with the precepts of the Jewish religion or of any other religion”.
Mohammed does not stun the sheep he slaughters, in accordance with traditional Halal standards.
He denies the process, which involves using a sharp knife to cut the carotid artery, jugular vein and windpipe in a single swipe, causes the animal any pain. He believes the practice creates more respect for the animals.
“We have such a divorced view of the animals we consume; the meat just seems to turn up at the supermarket, already packaged, clean, wrapped and everything,” he says.
“But doing this practice builds that connection and respect for the animal you’re about to consume.
“And the fact that we will distribute the meat ourselves to those in need shows that these rituals are about making sure the community is fed as well.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Ibrahim, another Muslim who continues the practice, and whose name has also been changed to protect his identity.
Ibrahim and his friends carefully slaughtered two sheep in his backyard in western Sydney to mark the celebration, his mother watching on from the balcony.
“We’re doing this to revive the tradition, to bring back the true celebration of Eid al-Adha, and to maintain our connection to our traditions.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s not illegal to feed your family.”
Asif Sana, the director of programs at Islamic Relief Australia, says the community is shifting towards depending on registered charities to organise their qurban.
“The demand for such programs is increasing, but it’s still around 50-50 here. Lots of people still organise or do it themselves, but things are changing.
“The younger generation, the ones who were born here and who studied here, they lean more into charities such as ours. But the older generation do sometimes prefer to do it their way,” he says.
Many families prefer to arrange for their qurban via a network of providers and distributors, often members of extended family who organise the slaughter.
But some still prefer to do it the way Ibrahim and Mohammed have: slaughtering the animals themselves, with both families portioning part of the meat for themselves, and distributing the rest via trusted networks to low-income families.
Lisa Ryan, regional campaigns manager at Animal Liberation NSW, says backyard slaughter, particularly of animals that have not been stunned, risks increased “fear and pain”.
“Evidenced science tells us that animals as sentient beings feel extreme stress and fear leading up to and during all slaughter practices. We contend that undertaking any activity, be it slaughter or a routine husbandry practice, on an animal that knowingly causes pain and suffering, is animal cruelty.
“Animal Liberation is opposed to all backyard slaughtering regardless of who is undertaking the slaughtering. While many Australian slaughterhouses have been exposed for animal cruelty, there is a much increased risk of animal pain and suffering in an unregulated backyard environment.”
The RSPCA advises on its website against home slaughter, saying religious practices do not fulfil their standards for humane slaughter.
“Inexperienced persons slaughtering an animal, for example in the form of a religious sacrifice or during home slaughter, does not fulfil our expectations for humane slaughter. The RSPCA strongly condemns such practices.”
The NSW minister for multiculturalism, Steve Kamper, said religious practices were encouraged, provided they complied with existing laws.
“The NSW government encourages people to practise their religious traditions. However, there is an expectation these practices comply with the state’s laws,” he said.
A representative of the NSW Department of Primary Industries said it was not technically illegal to slaughter livestock at home, provided animal welfare considerations and biosecurity concerns were met.
“When animals are intended to be slaughtered, individuals must ensure that the animal is not caused unnecessary pain, suffering or injury through use of properly approved stunning and slaughtering methods.
“The person slaughtering the animal must have ‘the appropriate level of competence to do so without causing any avoidable pain, distress or suffering’.”
Ibrahim says he abided by halal standards in slaughtering the sheep, ensuring they were prayed on, were not distressed and bled out quickly.
“This ritual is thousands of years old, older than Islam, and humans have been eating meat for longer still. We ensure it all happens very quickly and the animal feels minimal pain,” Ibrahim says, as his friends clean the carcass while it hangs from a Hills hoist.
“It all happened in less than a minute – the sheep didn’t struggle, only one person had to be there, we didn’t even need to tie it up.”
