Turkish charities are active as always this Eid al-Adha season, collecting money and sacrificing animals, packaging the meat and distributing it to the poor. These activities are not confined to Turkey alone, with aid also sent abroad to Muslim countries and countries with destitute Muslim minorities. For weeks Turks have been reaching into their pockets to help those in need, and today their donations will begin bringing smiles to the less fortunate worldwide. The donations, ranging from TL 250-550 depending on the organization and the country the sacrificial meat will reach, will provide meat to millions of people around the world.
Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) Association President Mehmet Özkara told Today’s Zaman that as part of this year’s Eid al-Adha charity drive, in addition to the distribution of sacrificial meat in 38 Turkish provinces, his organization will organize sacrifices and aid distribution in 44 foreign countries. After the sacrifices are carried out in sanitary, modern facilities, the meat is packaged in seven-kilogram bags that Kimse Yok Mu staff brings right to the doors of needy families. Accompanying the association’s staff in many provinces and countries are businesspeople and other private citizens who want to participate directly in the charity-giving process this year.
Another major charity organization, the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH), today begins the sacrifice of animals in 120 countries and 50 Turkish provinces, aiming to feed 2.5 million people this Eid al-Adha season. İHH President Bülent Yıldırım told Today’s Zaman that the İHH was hoping to repeat its success in previous years, organizing sacrifices and distributing aid from Asia to Latin America, Africa to the Far East, the Balkans to the Middle East.
The Cansuyu Solidarity and Charity Foundation will also be distributing Eid al-Adha aid in Turkey and abroad, with its charitable efforts spanning three continents, its president, Mustafa Köylü, told Today’s Zaman.
Running through Nov. 30 this year, the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice, Kurban Bayramı in Turkish) requires every Muslim with the means to do so to sacrifice an animal as a reminder of the unflinching faith in God of the Prophet Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice his own son to God before God intervened to provide him with an animal to sacrifice instead. Many in Turkey elect to pay for someone else to sacrifice an animal instead of heading down to the butcher to do it themselves, with many opting to send their sacrifice money to support the needy in other nations.
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