Detroit Area City Council Approves Animal Sacrifice for Religious Reasons

Residents in the Detroit area are now allowed to sacrifice animals at home for religious reasons after approval from the Hamtramck City Council.

Source: FOX 2 Detroit/Youtube

The Hamtramck City Council approved the practice, 3-2, this week. The Detroit area has a large Muslim community. Muslims often slaughter animals or pay someone else to do it for them during the Eid al-Adha holiday.

In December, the Hamtramck council voted to continue the ban on animal slaughter, but now they have reversed this decision for religious reasons after legal advice and objections, the Detroit Free Press reported. Hamtramck residents will be required to notify the city, pay a fee, and make their property available for inspection.

The Detroit Free Press reported that Hamtramck has a population of 28,000, and more than half of the residents are of Yemeni or Bangladeshi descent.

“If somebody wants to do it, they have a right to do their practice,” council member Mohammed Hassan said.

We have previously reported on Muslim Rashtriya Manch, a Muslim group in Andwah, India, who did not want to participate in the slaughter anymore and decided to do away with the goat sacrifice and celebrate a “blood-free Eid”.

Although this Muslim group’s decision may seem small in scale, it has the power to spread a great message. Raees Khan, one of the leaders of the ceremony, told Indian Express that the gesture was a message to society that this festival is capable of more compassion than it has exhibited in the past.

Co-leader, Hasan Kausar, seconded Khan’s thoughts saying, “Bakr-Eid can be celebrated also by cutting a cake just like people celebrate birth anniversaries. The Bakr-Eid festival spreads a message of humanity.” We hope that other groups who celebrate Eid will be inspired by this story of mercy and empathy and be encouraged to do the same at their festivals next year.

Related Content:

• Activists Call to Stop Deopohkari Animal Sacrifice Festival
• Compassion Wins! Nepal Bans Gadhimai Animal Sacrifice Festival
• Gadhimai Festival, World’s Largest Animal Sacrifice Ritual, to Take Place Soon!
• Business Owner Offers ‘Spa Treatment’ For Sacrificial Animals Ahead of Slaughter for Eid Al Adha Festival
• This Muslim Community Celebrated Eid With a Goat-Shaped Cake Instead of Slaughtering an Animal

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