Eid al-Adha — Senegalese (Tabaski) Traditions

Tabaski, the Greatest Day

Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, is known across Senegal and much of West Africa by its Wolof name, Tabaski, and in this roughly 95-percent-Muslim country it's the biggest holiday of the year. Like Eid al-Adha everywhere, it honors the Prophet Ibrahim's (Abraham's) willingness to sacrifice his son, and God's mercy in providing a ram instead. What makes the Senegalese version unmistakable is the scale of the ram at its center and the distinctly Senegalese customs of dress, forgiveness, and sharing layered on top.

How It's Celebrated

The sheep is everything. Families save all year to buy the finest ram they can afford, and in the weeks before Tabaski, hundreds of thousands of sheep are trucked into Dakar and other cities, filling pens and roadsides. There's even an annual televised contest for the most beautiful sheep. The day begins with the dawn mosque prayer, after which each family sacrifices its ram and divides the meat into three parts: one for the household, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor, so no one goes without.

Then comes the dressing up. Tailors are swamped for weeks because everyone wants a new grand boubou, the flowing, elegant embroidered robe, for Tabaski. In the afternoon and evening, children, dressed in their new clothes, go house to house to ask elders' forgiveness for the past year, exchanging the Wolof blessing "Baal ma àq" ("forgive my wrongs") and "Baal naa la" ("I forgive you"), and collecting tangale, small gifts of money or candy. The feast is grilled and stewed ram with rice and rich sauces.

Tabaski in the US

Senegalese American communities, notably in Harlem and the Bronx in New York, and in cities like Cincinnati and Columbus, gather for Eid prayers and then for the meal and visiting. The defining diaspora challenge is the same one every Muslim community faces with the sacrifice: you can't slaughter a ram in the city. Senegalese families handle the sacrifice through local halal farms and butchers that take Tabaski orders, through the mosque, or by sponsoring a sacrifice back home in Senegal where the meat reaches family and those in need, a meaningful link to home.

The grand boubou tradition stays strong (tailors and importers stay busy), the forgiveness-asking and tangale carry over for the children, and the prayer-plus-feast shifts around the US workday. For many, sending money home for a family ram is part of the holiday.

If You're Invited

Come dressed up; if you have West African attire, Tabaski is the day for it, and a grand boubou is celebrated. Greet people with "Dewenati" (the Tabaski greeting, roughly "may we be here again next year"). If a child asks your forgiveness, the gentle exchange of "Baal ma àq" / "Baal naa la" is part of the day, and a little tangale for the kids fits right in. Come ready for a meat-centered feast, and mention in advance if you don't eat meat.

What Families Hire For

A Tabaski gathering leans on caterers for the ram feast and Senegalese spread, attire shops and tailors for the grand boubou and new clothes, and event planners for the larger community celebrations.