A Goat a Day Keeps the Evil Away: Pakistan's President and His Addiction to Sacrifices

The President of Pakistan has a black goat slaughtered at his house nearly every day as protection from “black magic” and “evil eyes”. Does Allah need daily appeasement?

Farhatullah Babar, spokesman for Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, informed the Dawn newspaper:

It has been an old practice of Mr Zardari to offer Sadqa (animal sacrifice). He has been doing this for a long time.

As Reuters reports, Sadqa is a form of charity, in which one gives away money or the meat of a slaughtered animal in an attempt to curry Allah’s favor or avert possible misfortune.

Dawn reports that quite literally hundreds of goats have been slaughtered since Zardari took over the Presidency in 2008. Each goat is touched by Zardari — apparently, so the all-knowing Allah will know that Zardari paid for the goat — then taken to Zardari’s private home and slaughtered.

Zardari seems to have picked up the practice from his wife, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. She practiced sadqa regularly, warding off evil and misfortune, from her return to Pakistan in late 2007 until her death in a suicide attack.

Clearly, the practice is effective.

This is not the only superstition in which Zahari engages. He also brought a flock of black partridges to the President’s House, for their reputed magical effects.

There must not have been much magic in those partridges, as the entire flock perished when a live wire fell on their cage.

Accident? Or black magic?

No doubt, evil people are plotting against Zardari. As the Guardian notes:

With sections of the media and military openly arrayed against him, the president’s popularity ratings have plunged to the low teens.

Last week, long-standing corruption allegations resurfaced in the supreme court, where rivals appear to be preparing a legal attempt to oust him from office.

As Zardari’s woes multiplied, detractors have portrayed him as a lonely and paranoid figure, fearful of leaving the heavily-secured presidency.

Nicknamed “Mister Ten Percent” for his long-standing reputation for taking bribes, Zardari is desperately scrambling for anything to keep him in power. Like many politicians, he finds it more effective to turn to superstitious rituals and accusations of “witchcraft” than to, say, stop engaging in the corruption for which he is known and act like a leader who cares about his countrymen.

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2. Norway’s sorrow: Why is it so hard for the religious right to denounce evil?
3. God, evil, and free will
4. President Obama and the ‘No Religious Test’ Clause
5. Sheldon: Gay Activism Is “The Very Face Of Evil”

Jenny Donati is webmistress and co-editor of Secular News Daily. Jenny is an outspoken secularist who believes firmly in the separation of church and state. She demands evidence to support arguments, and holds herself to the same standard. She doesn't write about herself in the third person . . . but there's a first time for everything.

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