Eid Al-Adha – Tabaski

For AFP, July 2020, Nouakchott, Mauritania –  People celebrating Eid al-Adha, also known as Tabaski in Western Africa, in Basra neighborhood (district 6th), Nouakchott, Mauritania. Celebrated two months and ten days after the feast of Ramadan, Tabaski (or Aïd el-Kebir) is celebrated every year by all Muslims. This religious day recalls Ibrahim’s submission to God when God asked him to sacrifice his son, Ishmael. Ibrahim accepts this divine imperative but, at the last moment, the archangel Gabriel appears and sends him a sheep which he sacrifices in place of his son. To perpetuate this act, each Muslim must kill a sheep on this day. The meat of the sacrifice must be eaten, kept and offered to the poor, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, etc. This celebration, which is an opportunity to gather as a family, has however a significant cost: between the meat, gifts and clothes to celebrate with the cost of living increasing, it is the source of many debts