MAKKAH: Three months after Haj, the government of Malaysia has begun the process of slaughtering 20,700 sheep on behalf of a number of Malaysian pilgrims who performed Haj last year, Muhammad Mahmoud, in charge of Haj affairs at the Malaysian Consulate in Jeddah, said on Sunday.
“Every day we slaughter about 1,200 sheep at Al-Muasim Slaughterhouse, in Mina as Hadi and Feda (sacrificial meat) on behalf of our pilgrims who performed Haj last year,” he told Arab News. He said the pilgrims had deputized their government.
“They are confident that the government will carry out this ritual according to Shariah rules,” he said.
The official said the government had been carrying out this ritual on behalf of the country’s pilgrims for the past 20 years. “The government is doing this for the pilgrims in order to save them from the trouble of going to the slaughterhouse and it enables them to dedicate all their time to worship,” he said.
Mahmoud said the consulate signs contracts with sheep importers who provide the animals and also coordinate with the Makkah municipality for their slaughtering.
“We distribute the meat of these sheep among social shelters, welfare societies, Qur’an memorization schools and poor and needy individuals,” he said, adding that officials from the consulate would make sure that the meat reaches eligible people.
The director of the Department of Slaughterhouses in the municipality, Saud Al-Hitairishi, said the Malaysians usually came to Makkah at this time of year to perform the Feda ritual on behalf of their pilgrims.
“They (Malaysians) are doing a good job which is organized and smooth. I hope that the diplomatic missions of other Muslim countries will follow suit,” he said.
