Drought in Morocco: King Mohammed VI Urges Citizens not to Sacrifice Animals for Eid 2025

By Antonino Finocchiaro
On February 26, 2025, King Mohammed VI of Morocco urged citizens to forgo the traditional sacrifice associated with Eid al-Adha (the Festival of Sacrifice) due to the prolonged drought that has reduced livestock by 38% in recent years. It is the first time in nearly 30 years of his reign that the monarch has made this kind of request.
Eid al-Adha commemorates the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael, before of being stopped by an angel sent by God. Then, Abraham provided to sacrifice a ram instead. The Eid is the second most important religious holiday in the country after Ramadan. It symbolizes human devotion to God’s will. In Morocco, the King is also the Amir al-Mu’minin (Commander of the Faithful), the religious head of the country, and traditionally begins the celebration by publicly slaughtering a ram himself.
This holiday is widely observed across the nation. Weeks before the event, enclosures for livestock spring up throughout the kingdom, where animals are selected and purchased by families. In public squares, streets, shopping centres, and traditional suqs, buyers and intermediaries engage in tough negotiations to find the best animal at the best price. As Eid approaches, prices tend to rise, increasing the risk of missing out on a good deal. For this reason people are used to buy the animal days in advance and transport it at home.
On the day of the celebration, middle and upper-class urban families hire a butcher, while in rural areas or city outskirts, the animal is often slaughtered by the eldest male family member, in front of the rest of the family. This traditional form of slaughter often takes place in gardens, on rooftops, and in some cases even on streets or beaches. The celebration has a strong social and religious component, as part of the meat is distributed to the needy, fulfilling one of the five pillars of Islam. Moreover, Eid retains a strong communal value, as families reunite. Often people working in large cities return to their villages to spend the holiday with their relatives.
Due to the shortage of livestock, this year the tradition has changed. For the first time, the King—both as Commander of the Faithful and as the Nation’s leader—publicly asked his people to abstain from the ritual sacrifice. The appeal aims to curb price speculation, which was driving up animal costs as the holiday approached. It also serves to preserve breeding livestock that could help the recover of livestock in future years.
However, in his speech Mohammed VI did not rely solely on economic reasoning. He referred to his religious authority on the religious law, clarifying that the sacrifice is not a legal obligation stated in the Holy Book but it is part of the Sunna—a complementary source of Islamic law used when the Quran does not provide specific guidance. He also cited the legal principle that “there is no compulsion in religion” and recalled that his grandfather, King Mohammed V, had once sacrificed a ram on behalf of the people. In doing so, he softened the ritual and connected the religious festival to public needs, invoking legal reasoning to balance religious obligation with the common good.
For Moroccans, the Eid sacrifice is a ritual act that allows believers to affirm a specific cultural and religious identity. Urging citizens to forgo this rite for the sake of the State, the Kingdom of Morocco shows an uncommon capacity to build a moderate form of Islam, in which the concept of “sacrifice” can shift from the slaughter of an animal to a personal and collective renunciation of the ritual itself, in order to ensure the well-being of society as a whole.
https://lematin.ma/chroniques/aid-al-adha-2025-un-sursis-strategique-tribune/266255