Bujlood (, lit. ''father of pelts'') or ''Bilmawen'' (, ) is a folk Amazigh celebration observed annually after Eid al-Adha in parts of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in which a person or more wears the pelt of the livestock sacrificed on Eid al-Adha.

Etymology

The term ''Bujlood'' comes from the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

(meaning father, or possessor) and (plural of ''jild'' , meaning skin, leather, or pelt), so means father or possessor of pelts. The term in Tamazight is .

Observance

The celebration begins with a

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

, usually on the day after Eid al-Adha, when young people wear masks and the skins of the sheep or goats that were sacrificed on the Eid. They dance around in their masks and costumes carrying limbs of the sacrificed animals, which they use to play with people they run into and trying to touch them. The point is to spread laughter and cheer.

Interpretations

The French ethnologists

Edmond Doutté Edmond Doutté (14 January 1867 – 6 August 1926) was a French sociologist, orientalist and Islamologist - both Arabist and Berberologist - but also an explorer of Maghreb. Works *1900: *1900: *1900''L'Islâm algérien en l'an 1900'' Algi ...

and connect the tradition to pre-Islamic Amazigh rites celebrating the changing of seasons and death and resurrection. The Finnish anthropologist Edvard Westermarck connected the tradition to the Roman

Saturnalia Saturnalia is an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple ...

festival. The Moroccan anthropologist

Abdellah Hammoudi Abdellah Hammoudi (born in 1945) is a Moroccan anthropologist, ethnographer, and emeritus professor of anthropology at Princeton University. Biography Abdellah was born in Kalaat Sraghna in 1945. He received a bachelor's degree in philosophy fr ...

, in his essay ''The Victim and Its Masks: An Essay on Sacrifice and Masquerade in the Maghreb'', refutes these interpretations and contextualizes ''bujlood'' as a Moroccan cultural practice inseparable from the Eid al-Adha sacrifice. has also written about the sacrifice traditions of the Ait Mizan and the Ait Souka in the High Atlas.

Islamic opinion

In the opinion of some local Islamic scholars, this celebration is "not permissible as it likens humans, who have been blessed by God, to beasts, and the skin of these animals defiles the human body. It also makes it impossible to pray on time, because changing in and out of the clothes takes time, and the individual in question has to wash himself in

ablution Ablution is the act of washing oneself. It may refer to: * Ablution as hygiene * Ablution as ritual purification ** Ablution in Islam: *** Wudu, daily wash *** Ghusl, bathing ablution *** Tayammum, waterless ablution ** Ablution in Christianity * ...

after each removal of the skins, as they give off a nasty odor, especially in the summer time."

References

Berber culture Festivals in Morocco {{Morocco-stub