Alhamdulillah, Euro Quality Lambs (EQL) have completed another Qurbani season that involved sacred offering and performing Qurbani for our community in the UK. We successfully performed Qurbani for our retail & trade customers and charity partners in accordance with nationally agreed and endorsed Qurbani Protocol.
This year’s Qurbani season saw increased interest and engagement from retail customers. More importantly, despite higher prices due to limited supply of eligible Qurbani animals and trending inflation, the amount of charity meat generated has increased thanks to the genorosity of our customers. We offered hogget and sheep for Qurbani this year.
This year we spent an unprecedented amount of time in cutting and distribution of Qurbani meat for our charity partners and for our own network of needy recipients. Our Qurbani operations lasted for almost two weeks after the first 3 days of Eid -ul- Adha. This requires maturation of Qurbani carcasses which results in the dual benefit of increased flavour and enhanced tenderness. We are passionate about offering the meat in the best way possible (as we would offer to an esteemed guest), hence the time devoted for a worthy cause!
Here’s a roundup of how we distributed your kind Qurbani donations in 2024.
Animal Co-Product Proceeds
Alhumdulillah we collected £506 of animal co-product proceeds from those that entrusted us with this Amanah. We are in continued partnership with Islamic Relief in ensuring that the money generated is allocated to the poor and needy as defined by the first two categories of Zakah recipients. This was donated to Islamic Relief on 15 July 2024.
The co-product value of the Qurbani animal must go to the charity. Historically this included skins but unbelievably it now COSTS abattoirs money to dispose of skins. Parts of the animal that continue to be sold (what we call co-products) include casing (from the small intestine, after cleaning to make sausages) and tripe (from the stomach).
Heads and feet have negligible value as they need further processing (for washing, dehairing and singing) before they can be used for human consumption.
We aim to spread awareness about co-product donations through our Qurbani FAQs (Q21) so that more butchers and abattoirs are asked about how these proceeds are communicated, collected and distributed so that ultimately more people receive financial support from the blessings of each Qurbani performed.
Our estimation is that, across the UK, approximately £150k+ of co-product donations is UNACCOUNTED FOR! That is a lot of money that could have been used to support those in need. The Halal Food Information Centre (HFIC) launched a consumer awareness campaign for Qurbani 2024 that also encompassed this topic among others. Please spread awareness about this important topic! For further reading on Qurbani, please visit their resources page.
Gift Aid
Your gift-aid makes a huge difference and helps our charity pay for distribution costs and couriering meat for those who could not get transport to our site. Some of it is also allocated to develop Qurbani standards for UK abattoirs & butchers, as well as the work we do to support charities offering international Qurbani.
If you are a UK tax-payer we always recommend you tick the gift-aid box. It will make no difference to you (and can even reduce your tax if you are a higher-rate tax payer), however it will make a signficant difference to how we support beneficiaries.
Meat Donations
Alhumduillah 996 KG of charity meat was donated this year compared to 462 KG last year. We successfully met all the charity meat requests received this year.
The meat generated was cut, packed and distributed to the following causes and places:
Local refugees and needy families
Through our masjid, Craven Arms Islamic Centre (CAIC), and connections with the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum, we have
identified a number of Syrian and Afghan refugee families who have been settled recently in surrounding areas. Our Imam Sohayb Peerbhai and brother Ibrar delivered 369 Kgs of meat in:
| Newtown | 100 KG for 15 families including Syrian and Afghan refugees |
| Shrewsbury | 20 KG for 10 Syrian refugee families
100 KG for 10 Syrian refugee families |
| Telford & Oswestry | 80 KG for 8 refugee families, 20 KG for 2 refugee families |
| Donated for a local event being organised for supporting Palestine | 10 KG |
| Shrewsbury Masjid | 10 KG |
| Needy families in the local community | 29 KG |
Local Food Banks
242 KG of Mutton joints were cut and donated to food banks in Shrewsbury and Ludlow.
| Shrewsbury Food Hub | 148 KG |
| Ludlow Helping Hands | 94 KG |
Refugees & Asylum Seekers in Scotland and Manchester
Through our network of local volunteers and CAIC, we have some pre-determined number of individuals and families in Scotland and Manchester in need of support – some of whom used to live locally but have since moved away. We distributed 20 KG and 30 KG of Qurbani lamb meat to the families in Manchester and Scotland (including some meat to the local masjid) respectively.
Secret Angels, Wolverhampton
Following a successful distribution last year, this year we allocated 300 KG of meat to Secret Angels in Wolverhampton. They support food banks and individuals locally and distributed Qurbani meat to:
- Good Shepherd’s Services (30 KG)
- Sudanese/Ghananian families (20 KG)
- 10 families (30 KG)
- Al Amin Madrassa (220 KG supporting 120 children)
How do we manage charity meat requests?
How do we plan our charity distribution for a given Qurbani season? We hear you asking the question. The charity meat donated to us is an Amaanah, and we are bound to distribute it with transparency and due diligence whilst protecting the integrity of the recipients.
We invite charity meat requests through our online form (click on image). This form facilitates us in having more information about potential recipients to assess their request and to allocate the right quantity for households or community centers as the case may be. We hope to further improve and refine this form going forward. All suggestions are welcome! Click to access the form.
The charity meat donations allows us to bring joy to many families, allowing them to enjoy the barakah of Qurbani meat and know that people are out there that are thinking of them. We hope this generosity continues. Please make niyah (good intention) inshaAllah and help us to help people in two ways.
Perform at least one Qurbani from your family in the UK fully for charity. Alternatively donate a third of your Qurbani (Sunnah – recommended way) by selecting the option available on our Qurbani order form. Encouraging others to do the same will increase the charity meat allocation insha’Allah.
Forward this blog to food charities and organisations that you think would benefit from receiving Qurbani meat for charitable causes through their volunteers or foodbanks. With your help and contribution we can all play our part to bring some joy to those in need!
Qurbani 2025
Qurbani is a great act of ibadah that carries immense reward if performed in the prescribed manner with true intention and belief. There is nothing more beloved to Allah swt during the (three) days of Tashreek than Qurbani. May Allah swt accept our Qurbani, ibadah and prayers. Ameen.
EQL thanks all its customers, donors, colleagues, drivers and partners for making the Qurbani 2024 charitable distribution successful. We shall continue to pursue ihsan (excellence) in how we conduct Qurbani and to
provide you with the best satisfaction, experience and value.
We look forward to welcoming you again next year insha’Allah 🙂