By Mohamed Menflouti – HIBAPRESS
There are many opinions of those who have sat with people and with themselves, whispering or speaking in a sad tone that summarizes everything…
It summarizes the size of the longing for a time that has passed, gone forever.
As if their tongue says:
"With this time, Eid has changed, it went with the days of time, the time of solidarity, cooperation, family visits, and the distribution of roles. Something is slaughtered and something is done from the centuries…"
"But now, a person has become isolated and lonely, slaughtering his sheep and his house door is closed in the face of everyone, no one comes, no one goes….,
Neighbors don't speak to each other and don't visit…
They look at each other out of the corner of their eye…
In the street, bags of waste that are not like waste contain "the heads and skins of sacrifices and their entrails after some women failed to disassemble, wash, and recycle them…"
As if many say: "Where is the role of the grandmother, where is the role of the mother…where is the Eid of time, where is the flavor of henna and the white garment scented with rose water, where is the sacrifice whose fats were spread at the time of slaughter on the shoulders of the little ones…".
People were all with each other, they visited and embraced…
The houses were narrow, small in size, but they could accommodate everyone, contain everyone, and soothe the hearts of everyone at the barbecue tables and the glasses of mint tea, which in turn lost its flavor and smell that brings the coming from afar…
It is Eid in the time of globalization,…the time when everyone is carrying their mobile phone, searching for likes and likes, even at the expense of people's suffering and ridiculing the sacrifice, which is a sacrifice to God Almighty…
It is Eid in the time of chaos and confusion and congratulations with "copy and paste" so that its owner did not even know to whom he sent it…the important thing is that the sending process was successful…
Even congratulations are sent via text messages and phone calls, field visits have lost their sparkle, children are no longer concerned with them, and they are the ones who strengthen ties and kinship between individuals and make generations…
People in the good old days embraced Eid and welcomed it with their senses and feelings…
Neighbors' doors were open to the public, whoever came and knocked on the door and asked for permission to enter, enters, contributes, helps, and offers a helping hand, does not leave until he tastes the meat and liver of the lamb…
The slaughter was shared, and the elder of the people in the neighborhood or the neighborhood roamed, distributing congratulations and blessings, putting the slaughter service at the disposal of everyone and for free….
The little ones filled the surroundings with play, movement, and hugs for the elders, asking for "Eid money," and the sacrifices filled the vast space with bleating and scents that invigorate the soul and heal patients with "allergies, tightness, and respiratory diseases"…
The grandfather, the grandmother, and the good wife, all of them, furnish the scene, create the event, and make joy and warmth on the barbecue tables…
Today, the scene has become different, it has nothing to do with what was mentioned, its most prominent title is "We shut you down, you shut us down, we run on you, you run on us, bragging, clashing, and defending, and exchanging congratulations and hugs with a taste of hypocrisy…"
Rams are sold in the blue space, and certificates that tear the heart, and novels and stories are woven in the markets to attract viewers, soften hearts, bring goodness, and tickle feelings…
This transformation was not a sudden qualitative leap, but rather a long and wide path of social and technological changes that redefined our relationship with ritual performance, transforming the scene from visible rituals charged with presence to highly organized digital transactions in the age of globalization…
On the day of slaughter and after slaughter, speed has become the lady of the situation, everyone is racing against time to cut the sacrifice at lightning speed for fear of changing its color and smell, and it is no longer possible to keep it and contemplate it, as it is hanging inside the house and the little ones gather around it, stealing small parts from its sides in secret to put it on the barbecue fire away from the eyes of the mothers…
It is the revolution of electronic platforms and specialized applications, the sacrifice has become an organized service in which the process is completed in a few seconds, slaughtering, cutting, and storing…
Even buying it has become a story without end…
It is Eid in the age of digitalization, in which the ritual is summarized in the transaction of pressing the like button and reaping the likes and digital begging…
In it, the young generation of today's children and tomorrow's men have lost the ability to understand Eid with their senses and feelings, and with it, families have lost the moment of participatory work and cooperation in making Eid inside the house…
It is the era of Eid between two worlds, the world of material rituals, history, and geography, and adherence to traditions and customs, and the revival of the religious ritual, and the world of digitalization and technology and the transformation of worship into purely mechanical transactions without taste or smell…
And until the Creator relieves the distress, and accepts the work….
The biggest and highest challenge remains, which is the presence of the heart and the continuity of the connection of the human conscience with the meaning of giving and getting closer to God Almighty, so that Eid does not turn from a religious ritual, the revival of the Sunnah of our Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him, into an opportunity to seize opportunities and create the event and the encroachment of the digital space with financial revenues by pressing the like button…
