Coloring the head of the sacrifice with henna.. an Algerian custom that defies time
Only days separate us from the blessed Eid al-Adha, which is a spiritual and religious occasion that is also popular in all Arab and Islamic countries.
Eid al-Adha in Algeria has a great specialty, which begins days and weeks before the day of Eid, with unique appearances in the streets and cities, which Algerians call “the smell of Eid” (the smell of Eid).
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And before Eid al-Adha, the streets and markets of the cities of Algeria are witnessing a great deal of movement, and the streets turn into large “markets” to sell everything related to the Eid sacrifice, such as fodder, knives and “grills”.
Families, especially in the Algerian capital, also boast about "rams with large horns", and many of them participate in laying out their sacrifices in the squares of buildings or streets, especially those families who live in buildings.
Henna.. the blessing of sacrifice
However, there is a very old custom still in most regions of Algeria, which is "painting the head of the sacrifice with henna" on the eve of Eid al-Adha.
"Frum" searched for the origin of this ancient Algerian custom, and found the answer with Mrs. "Jazia", an Algerian woman in the Algerian capital, and the mother of two sons.
Jazia told that this custom is inherited from ancestors and in all .regions of Algeria, and its history is unknown.
However, it is an Amazigh heritage that symbolizes joy and blessing
But she linked it to the "henna blessing", as she referred to the association of "henna" with joy and blessing in the Algerian heritage, and interpreted the custom of dyeing the head of the sacrifice with henna on the night of Eid as "the sacrifice is a blessing and a prophetic Sunnah that must be honored with henna."
She pointed out that the habit of using henna is not only limited to the Eid sacrifice, as she noted an ancient Algerian belief that is still prevalent, which is that putting henna on anything "brings blessing", and from it fertilizing the sheep's head so that it is "blessed."
She said: "In our customs, on the night of Eid al-Adha, we prepare henna in a special dish, and dye the hands and even legs of children with it, and from the same dish we put henna on the sheep's head."
And she continued, "For us, this makes the sacrifice a blessing, which is what we do with some things or things that we buy as new, such as cars, as we put henna on the tires of the car to be a blessed car and drive away the evil eye."
https://al-ain.com/article/algeria-henna-eid-sheep