Moslems have not reached that far. The idea of redemption has not penetrated their thought as it has Christian thought. But we have told enough to show the great importance of the idea of sacrifice the development of their dogma in this respect. He also gives traditions and practices regarding the expiatory value of the blood shed at the annual animal-sacrifice feast. In Egypt it is common among the peasants to make votive sacrifices at the tombs of sheikhs.
Similar sacrifices are common in Arabia and in Lower Egypt.
Having given the animal to the saint, he thus gives to the latter the expiatory merit of feeding the poor. It is only after the imam of the village has cut the throat of his victim that the congregation can follow his example and sacrifice. This is also the order of procedure in other lands where a gun is fired as signal that the imam has done so 6 . The priest, as in patriarchal days, is the father of the household. A woman never sacrifices in Islam on these occasions.