From sacrifice, Muslims feed the hungry

The Muslim American Society wanted to celebrate the recent Eid ul-Adha holiday both traditionally -- through the sacrifice and sharing of meat -- and in a new way: Helping the local homeless.

The result was 300 pounds of halal beef -- that is, ritually fit according to Islamic law -- that arrived last month at the Pine Street Inn and fed more than 600 people after being transformed into shepherd's pie.

The Eid holiday, which began on Dec. 31, commemorates the willingness of the Prophet Abraham to sacrifice his son for God and occurs at the end of the Hajj, the holy pilgrimage to Mecca.

"The whole event of Hajj is a remembrance of the Way of Abraham," said Ahmed Elewa, outreach coordinator of the Muslim American Society's Boston Chapter.

Traditionally, Muslim families sacrifice the best of their herds during the Eid holiday -- a cow, sheep, goat, or camel -- and distribute the meat among relatives, friends, and the less-fortunate.

This year, seven members of the society's Boston chapter, based in Cambridge, donated $150 each to buy shares that purchased one head of cattle, said Bilal Kaleem, executive director of the Boston chapter. The Muslim American Society Service Corps, headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, launched the program across the country this year by coordinating donations and arranging to purchase cattle from an Iowa beef farm.

The animals were slaughtered under the guidance of Imam Ahmad Elkhaldy, the national director of the MAS Service Corps.

"The sacrifice has to be halal, which means that when the animal is sacrificed, it has to be done in the name of God," said Kaleem, adding that it must also be treated humanely, including shielding it from other animals being killed, making sure it has enough water, and draining its blood properly. The society also specifies that the cattle is grain-fed and given no hormones and no pork-based feed.

"We chose the Pine Street Inn because we really like their approach," Kaleem said. "They aim to preserve the dignity of those who happen to be currently in a less-privileged situation. It's not a handout. They treat people well."

Ahmed Elewa, outreach coordinator of the Muslim society's Boston chapter, recounted that in the story in the Koran that Eid celebrates, God asked Abraham to prove his submission and surrender to God's will by ordering him to sacrifice his son, which most Muslim scholars hold to be Ishmael, while the Bible holds Isaac to be the son (both Ishmael and Isaac are esteemed prophets in Islam). Moments before Abraham struck his son, God told him that he had passed the test of devotion, and provided an animal to be sacrificed instead.

The beef arrived at the Pine Street Inn on Jan. 18 and was served for dinner a week later.

"In the wintertime, especially after a stretch of cold weather, every night we're full" for dinner , said Isaac Ryan, the cook who turned the donation into meals.

He noted that a standard beef recipe at the inn calls for up to 400 pounds of ground meat. While menus are planned a month in advance, the inn adapts quickly to local generosity to serve its clientele.

"Our kitchen staff is very nimble," said Shepley Metcalf, communications director at the Pine Street Inn. "We really couldn't run without the kinds of donation that this group made.

"It's our favorite kind of donation when you're making as many meals as we are," said Metcalf.

He said the kitchen staff prepares as many as 2,100 meals each day for inn guests, satellite shelters, and other shelters that purchase meals through Pine Street's kitchen and food service training program.

The Muslim American Society's Boston chapter, established four years ago, encourages Muslims to get involved in their communities .

"It's great to mobilize the Muslim community here to donate locally," said Kaleem, who hopes that the success of this year's pilot program will encourage the Muslim tradition of charitable giving to the local community.

"There is no difference in hunger whether a person is Muslim or non-Muslim."