Tabaski

Me and my friend Danielle celebrating Tabaski

Last Sunday was Tabaski.   This is one of the biggest religious holiday for Muslims and is celebrated greatly in Kabou -well greatly in most of northern Togo.  Being a Christian, I knew very little about Tabaski or any Muslim holiday for that matter, so I was very curious.  Apparently, Tabaski is the "Festival of Sacrifice".  From what I was told, it celebrates the almost sacrifice of Abraham's son, Ishmael.  Without going into too much detail: Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son and his son was willing to be sacrificed because it was the will of God.  When God saw their obedience he stopped Abraham and told him to sacrifice a goat instead.  When the goat was sacrificed, God gifted Abraham with another son, Isaac, as a reward for his obediance.  So, Muslims celebrate this ultimate sacrifice each year during Tabaski.  Now, I can't speak for Muslims or even Togo but celebrating Tabaski with my Togolese friends was a great experience.  The family I celebrated with, chose the animal they wanted to sacrifice like a week before and they decided on a goat.  Early Sunday morning, everyone was dressed in their best clothing to worship (I wish I could describe how that went, but I didn't attend, but I heard it was beautiful).  After worship, the goat was cleaned then slaughtered, then prepared.  After that, it was a lot of celebrating and eating the entire day.  It felt like the entire town was celebrating with us.  I don't plan on converting, however; it was a wonderful experience.