My father and a handful of friends bought a cow for the feast of sacrifice. It is one of the most important tasks a Muslim can do to come close as possible to God. But there are many rules to follow, otherwise the sacrifice isn't one. To slaughter an animal in a halal way is far removed from the stereotypical barbaric pictures I had seen before in the media. It's a beautiful organic farm in the middle of Hessen, run by a friendly German family, with a woman in charge. The cow was calm, not stressed. She was strong and had a happy life on the fields for more than two years. Abdullah, a friend of my father's ever since they came from Turkey to work in Germany 1971 as "Gastarbeiter", was the man with the most experience to make a clean cut with the knife.