Global Courant
KUALA LUMPUR – Charity extends beyond their own shores for many Muslims in Malaysia, who choose to perform ritual animal sacrifices for Hari Raya Haji in another country and distribute the meat to needy people there.
This is despite coronavirus restrictions being lifted, allowing the Islamic ritual, korban, to be performed in mosques across Malaysia.
“People are becoming familiar with online services, including Korban services,” said Mr. Ahmad Fadzlullah Hasanuddin, CEO of EZ Qurban, to The Straits Times.
EZ Qurban is one of the organizations in Malaysia that provide online Korban services. It spent RM20 million (S$5.8 million) on slaughter last year and this year ran a promotional campaign with Maybank Islamic.
The organization began in 2007 after founder Azhar Ab Shukur, who served as an assistant mufti in Cambodia, saw that the impoverished minority Muslim community there could only access meat during the annual Muslim ritual of animal sacrifice. Cambodia is listed as one of the destinations abroad for Malaysians to perform the korban ritual.
In 2020, EZ Qurban recorded the highest number of 18,361 homicides, amid Malaysia’s Covid-19 lockdowns.
But while online orders for Korban services skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic, they fell to 14,397 in 2021, before rising again to 15,042 in 2022. Registration is still open for 2023.
While the annual Hari Raya Haji ritual of korban involves sacrificing an animal – usually a goat or a cow – and distributing the meat to relatives, neighbors and the less fortunate in the community, many organizations that run online korban offer also cattle that are slaughtered abroad.
EZ Qurban allows Malaysians to pay for the slaughter of an animal in 41 locations, including Palestine, Syria, Ethiopia, Somalia and Cambodia. The meat is then distributed to communities in need in those countries.
Other companies offering similar services include Serantau Muslim, Ikhlas, Islamic Relief, UTS Korban and Alkhairi Qurban.
Some, such as Yayasan Budi Ihsan Malaysia, offer camels in addition to goats and cows.
Livestock in other countries are often priced much lower than in Malaysia, making it more affordable for those on a budget to carry out the religious practice.
The exceptions are in Palestine, where the price of a single cow can reach RM19,000, and other conflict-ravaged areas such as Syria, according to Mr. Ahmad Fadzlullah.
“The scarcity of suppliers contributes to the high prices of livestock in these regions,” he said.
