Now that the Eid-ul-Adha, commonly known as Tobaski, has come and gone, there would be hundreds or perhaps thousands of people who would have spent everything they had to celebrate it. This has become a sort of a tradition which is proving to be very detrimental to the financial advancement of the people.
True, celebrating Eid-ul-Adha is an important religious rite, it does not pay to spend everything one has just in one day and then struggle for months. The cost of rams, which are offered as a sacrifice on such a day, is so high that some people can only afford it after gathering everything they worked for in months.
Secondly, most people usually insist on wearing new clothes for the festivities. Some parents have many children and have to buy cloths for each of them, that is in addition to the cost of sewing which I’d never cheap. Some women spend so much money on this day that one wonders how they will survive for the rest of the year.
Religion is not, should not be a burden, on its adherents. Islam, in particular, does not compel anyone to do what is beyond their capacity. If one does not have the financial means to offer the sacrifice of Eid, then they should not as it is not compulsory.
Some people go to the extent of taking loans just to fulfil these needs. Then, after the Eid they start paying off their debts. This makes a big dent in their pockets and thus their ability to provided food for the family. This has many and varying consequences of families. A lot of fights and quarrels and eventually splits in such families are a direct result of these ill-advised expenditures.
One way of solving this problem is through sensitisation and awareness creation among the people of the country. Government, community leaders, religious and traditional leaders should launch a campaign to create awareness among the people so that the problem will be minimized if not entirely eliminated.
