Reality of sacrifice in Eid-al-Azha: No fantasy in the symbolic act in Islam

By Dr MA Rashid*
The companions of Prophet Hazrat Muhammed Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam (Peace and blessings be upon him) asked, “What is this sacrifice(Qurbani)?” He answered that it is the Sunnah of your father Hazrat Ibrahim Alaihissalam(Peace be upon him).” This historic Qurbani incident took place about five and a quarter thousand years ago in “Mina” near “Khana-e-Ka’aba” located in Mecca, a desert region of Arabia.
This touching event will keep the faith fresh and remain enlightening and memorable for the Muslim community throughout the life.
Sacrifice is very important among different forms of worships performed for Allah. The reason for this is that Hazrat Ibrahim Alaihissalam was the most beloved prophet of Allah. Allah himself conferred upon him the title of “Khaleel”, which means an intimate friend. This incident of the sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim Alaihissalam provides an example of a practice which show unlimited and superlative love for Allah.
Hazrat Ismail(Peace be upon him) was the only and very beloved son of Hazrat Ibrahim Alaihissalam and the only support of old age. Allah wanted to see and show people that the love of Hazrat Ibrahim(Peace be upon him) is more towards his son or more towards Allah.
It may be noted that Hazrat Ibrahim(Peace be upon him) offered many sacrifices in the love of Allah, but Allah wanted special sacrifice in His love instead of these sacrifices. In Surah Saaffaat, lines 101 to 107 of the Holy Qur’an, the significance of the sacrifice is presented in such a way that “And, when he (his son) was old enough to walk with him, he said: “O my son! I have seen in a dream that I am slaughtering you (offer you in sacrifice to Allah), so look what you think!” He said: “O my father! Do that which you are commanded, Insha’ Allah (if Allah wills), you shall find me of As-Sabireen (the patient ones).”
Finally when both of them surrendered themselves (to Allah) and Ibrahim Alaihissalam laid the son on the floor (so what must have been the scene at that time, think!) and we called him saying, “O Ibrahim! You have fulfilled the dream (vision)! Verily! Thus do We reward the Muhsinoon(those who do righteous deeds)”. Verily, that indeed was a manifest trial and We ransomed him(Ismail(Peace be upon him)) with a great sacrifice (i.e. a ram);And We left for him (a goodly remembrance) among generations (to come) in later times. Peace be upon Ibrahim”. The great sacrifice refers to an animal(sheep), which was then presented by the Angel of Allah to Hazrat Ibrahim Alaihissalam in order to sacrifice it in lieu of the son. It was embellished with the words of a great sacrifice as it was the ransom of the faithful, patient and brave son of Ibrahim Alaihissalam. That is why this Sunnah(practice) of Ibrahim(Peace be upon him) was called “Sunnat-e-Jaariya”(perpetual way) and was ordained forever for the generations to come.
According to historians, the incident took place on the hill of “Mina” near Mecca where Hajj pilgrims offer sacrifices on 10th Zilhajj(12th Month of Hijri calendar). In exchange for Hazrat Ismail Alaihissalam, the horns of teh animal that was sacrificed, were safely kept in Khana-e-Kaaba till the time of Hazrat Abdullah bin Zubair(Allah be pleased with him). This incident of Qurbani is given special place in “Manaasik-e-Hajj”(Hajj rites).
In Arabic, “Azha” refers to the sacrifice of a legitimate animal. Selling animal for sacrifices brings many benefits to cattle rearers. The cattle business fetches a significant amount of money for the cattle roarers from rural areas. This promotes animal husbandry. Especially the animal vendors of Qurbani get a big relief for many economic problems.
Thus from this organic and natural management; according to the principles of remittance, wealth reaches every corner of the country to livestock owners and capitalists do not have a means of accumulating money.
Apart from this, we should also pay attention to aspects of sacrifice. This kind of sacrifice from Hazrat Ibrahim(Peace be upon him) was not demanded spontaneously by Allah but his whole life has been devoted to the sacrifices and is also memorable.
For the sake of Allah, he was deprived of parents’ love and affection, their wealth, amenities and comforts. Hazrat Ibrahim (Peace be upon him) was also deprived of the support of family and relatives and prospect of priesthood. He had to leave his beloved country. The Nimrood, (the king of Mesopotamia) threw Ibrahim (Peace be upon him) for his love of Allah.
In the desire and emulation of Allah, he had to leave his beloved wife and the only son in a barren desert and go to other countries to introduce the way of Allah.
When this child grew up, Allah ordered Ibrahim(Peace be upon him) to sacrifice the son by putting knife over his neck and leave all the support of the world and become a “Muslim Haneef” to present a complete depiction of Islam. The line#131 of Surah Baqrah of the Holy Qur’an states that “when his Lord told him to be a Muslim (obedient), he said without hesitation, I became a Muslim of Rabbul Alameen(the sustainer of the universe)”. Islam means absolute obedience, complete surrender and true loyalty.
Therefore, this unique sacrifice can only be done by one who is truly a follower of Allah in his whole personality and in his entire life, who is loyal to Him in every sphere of life and who has surrendered everything to Allah.
If our life is not a testimony that we are Muslim and loyal slaves of Allah and we have not devoted our whole life to Allah, then the Sunnah of Hazrat Ibrahim cannot be refreshed by just sacrificing the animal. At the time of the sacrifice, it is said that “In the name of Allah, Allah is the greatest, O Allah, accept this sacrifice on my behalf, just as you accepted the sacrifice of your friend Ibrahim(Peace be upon him) and your beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammed(Peace and blessings be upon him)”. Subsequently, in Surah Hajj, line 37 of the Holy Qur’an, it is said that “neither the flesh nor the blood of the sacrificed animals reaches Allah but your Taqwa(piety).”
This is the essence of Taqwa and sincere obedience is the soul of sacrifice. Only the sacrifice offered to Allah attains the status of acceptance which the people of Taqwa present with His passion. These feelings of Taqwa are not created merely by saying “I am a Muslim of Rabbul Aalameen” or praying whenever you wish, fasting in Ramadan and leaving afterwards, doing any specific work of Islam and then leaving, committing Shirk(assigning partners to Allah) in conduct and affairs, immorality, fraud, falsehood, false evidence etc. or spend life in an arbitrary way or waste the life and strength, abilities in such acts like suicide, murders, and expect from Allah that He will accept the sacrifice of our Eid-ul-Azha? Which is absolutely uncertain.
Similarly, there is no exemption like symbolic sacrifice in this sacrifice in the same way that we do not behave symbolically in transactions, buying, selling, catering, marriage, but in exchange of money and checks or couple of bride and groom are seen in the marriage. So, no kind of symbolic sacrifice can be imagined in Islam.
—
*Homeopathy doctor and active social worker based in Nagpur

Comments

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Gujarat Bitcoin scam worth Rs 5,000 crore "linked" with BJP leaders: Need for Supreme Court monitored probe

By Shaktisinh Gohil* BJP hit a jackpot in the form of demonetisation, which it used as an alibi to convert black money into white in Gujarat. Even as party scrambles for answers of how the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB), whose director is BJP president Amit Shah, received old currency worth Rs 745.58 crore in just five days, and how Rs 3118.51 crore was deposited in 11 district cooperative banks linked with Gujarat BJP leaders, a new mega Bitcoin scam, worth more than Rs 5,000 crore has been unraveled.

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit.

Counterview

Search This Blog