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dpa Cairo As hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims continued the annual Hajj pilgrimage rites in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, fellow Muslims in most parts of the world began celebrating the Eid al-Adha festival overshadowed by soaring food prices.During Eid al-Adha, Islam’s major feast, Muslims honour the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son to prove his faith to God.Sheep are commonly chosen as the sacrificial animal for the festival’s ritual slaughter.But other livestock, like cows and goats, may also be slaughtered for sacrifice.Part of the sacrificial meat is given to the poor.In the lead-up to the four-day festival this year, complaints surfaced in several Arab countries about increases in livestock prices. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was blamed for causing the hike in prices.Saudi Arabia, Islam’s birthplace and the world’s top oil exporter, is one such country.Earlier this week, Saudi King Salman ordered 20 billion riyals ($5.3 billion) in financial support to tackle repercussions of global price increases, media in the Gulf monarchy reported.A portion of the aid is earmarked for helping Saudis living on limited incomes and supporting cattle breeders.The rest will be pumped into augmenting the kingdom’s stocks of essential goods.In Lebanon, roiled by economic woes, many people complain about not having money for a sacrificial animal. A sheep there costs around $250.In mostly Muslim Egypt, livestock prices have increased by up to 30%, according to the privately owned newspaper al-Youm al-Saba.The spike was attributed to increases in prices of mostly imported animal fodder.Egypt, the Arab nation’s most populous country, of more than 100 million, is the world’s main wheat importer.
