One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Imam was that he would observe the laws and social rules of the society even of non-Islamic states. In particular, when in Paris, the brethren collected money to buy a sheep and slaughtered it behind the courtyard where the Imam would hold mandatory prayers on the occasion of the night of ‘‘Ashura’, and prepared food from it and sent a portion to the Imam’s house. Because in France there is a rule that slaughter of any animal other than in the slaughterhouse—because of matters of hygiene—is forbidden, thus when the Imam came to know of this rule he declared: “Because it is an infringement of the rules of this country, I will not eat of this meat.”[1]
[1] I shall not eat of this meat: Mrs. Dabbagh