Some resort to instruments .. Sheep doll alternative to sacrifice in Egypt

Mohamed Seif Eldin-Cairo

In an attempt to please them, Souad Rifaat took her three sons to buy the Eid sheep doll instead of the sacrifice that was flooding the house with happiness before Eid al-Adha.

The Egyptian woman resorted to buying the lamb doll in a simple symbol of Eid al-Adha instead of the sacrifice that has become difficult to buy, despite official estimates that prices have fallen by 10%, but high prices in general came on the budget of the vast majority of families.

As she explained in her talk to Al Jazeera Net, Ms. Arbaeena left for her children the freedom to choose the doll, but in return stipulated that they must be of small or medium size in order to be able to pay for it.

Othman al-Said also resorted to buying sheep dolls for his grandchildren, although he bought a sacrifice for the sacrifice to preserve the year of sacrifice, as it was back twenty years ago.

In his interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Steeni said that he decided to buy sheep dolls for his grandchildren to bring pleasure to them, as they were keen to participate every Eid in sacrificing the sacrifice and distributing it to the poor. , After leaving the pension due to their high prices and increased cost of living.

Doll and instruments

In recent years, many of those who cling to the sacrifice have resorted to sukuk, being a cheaper alternative than paying the cost of buying a full sacrifice.

The Egyptian Ministry of Endowments' sales of sacrificial sukuk this year amounted to more than 38 million pounds, a total of 21,160 sukuk so far, according to official estimates.

The instrument of sacrifice is a power of attorney from the sacrificer to the Ministry of Awqaf or Charitable Societies, to buy shares in the sacrifice and slaughter it.

The price of sheep sacrifice starts from four thousand pounds to six thousand pounds, while the price of cattle and cattle starts from 17 thousand pounds to forty thousand, according to a tour of the correspondent Al Jazeera Net.

On the other hand, the price of a sheep doll is fifty pounds for a small size, while the price of a large size exceeds 250 pounds (the dollar about 16.5 pounds).

Not only did she buy a lamb doll for children on Eid al-Adha, where it became a ritual among the youth, especially the engaged.

In his interview with Al Jazeera Net, the 20-year-old Mohammed Arif explains that he is keen to buy a lamb doll for his fiancée, such as the Ramadan Lantern and the Prophet's birthday bride.

One of the most common gifts among young people at Eid al-Adha is the Box of Lamb, a box that sometimes contains different types of chocolates and greeting cards, as well as the lamb doll, which is placed in a box or model of a farm surrounded by a green wall.

Turnout declined

Despite the high demand for dolls, it did not live up to previous years, as one vendor explained that they were preparing for the Eid al-Adha season by more than two weeks due to the high demand, but currently the season starts only one week before Eid.

The puppet salesman in his talk to the island Net that the market situation was affected by the negative because of the economic situation in the country, and the inability of citizens to meet the needs of the seasons such as holidays.

Sheep dolls spread widely in Egyptian markets during 2014, where they were very popular among Egyptians with young children, and were imported from China until the Egyptian authorities decided to ban imports in March 2016.

With the decision to ban the importation of sheep dolls, some importers and manufacturers resorted to circumventing the issue by importing toys bearing different forms of lamb, battery operated, moving and making sounds under the heading of toys, and found great popularity among young people, according to a vendor in downtown Cairo. For the island Net.

Egypt is one of the largest importing markets from China, where the import bill for toys increased from $ 54 million in FY2017-2018 to $ 63 million in FY2018-19, according to Barakat Safa, vice president of toys at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce. (Independent and supervised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry).

Measures that the government says are "economic reform" have led to a rise in the poverty rate, where the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics in Egypt (government) last Monday, it reached 32.5% in 2018, compared to 27.8% in 2015.

Contrary to what the World Bank said in a May report, 30% of Egyptians are below the poverty line, 60% are either poor or vulnerable, and inequality is growing.