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Eid ul Adha is on or around the corner. I wish you all a safe, happy and fulfilling celebration with your family and friends.
All I ask is, please spare the poor goat or lamb or cow’s life. The purpose of sacrifice is to understand the spirit of parting with what you hold dear (your wealth), it is not some muqabla against four-legged animals.
Please pause and think … That, after all, is what religion should make us do rather than blindly following ritual.
According to the many organizations that will perform the sacrifice for you if you live abroad, the cost of one goat/sheep is US$ 160 in the US (that is more than one month’s salary for a college educated Pakistani professional). The price in Pakistan is cheaper, but not by much. Only the well wheeled can afford it. The Poor cannot even budget for a kilo of meat a month.
Is there a better way to ‘sacrifice’ the 150-200 dollars or the Rs. 10,000 or more in the name of Allah that is useful to His bandas? A way that captures the spirit of sacrifice that qurbani entails and helps us meet our religious obligation as well as the social welfare and redistribution that is its deeper purpose?
The Qur’an reminds us that Allah looks at intent not the blood. Maybe we too should pay heed to the intent of qurbani? For those who want to sacrifice this writer instead, please read Chapter 22, Verse 37 from the Holy Qur’an (I have looked at translations by Marmaduke, Yusufali, Asad and Usmani) and they all talk about your own devotion, piety, God-consciousness and taqwa that reaches Him.
The meat from the sacrificial animal is intended to be divided into three parts: 1/3rd each for your self, family and friends, and for the needy and the poor. I would suggest we fore go our share, and give the whole amount to the poor including poor relations. Charity and alms should be given throughout the year, and many people do. But with this added emphasis around Eid ul Adha I would suggest we consider giving more to the poor including poor relations.
Allah looks at intent not the blood. What better way to celebrate this Eid?
On my last visit I saw a lot of people drive up to a certain "hotel" (Pinglish for restaurant) and pay the owner X rupees to feed X number of hungry folks lined up outside. That is a noble idea. But would it not be better better to teach them to fish?
A manual sewing machine for a widow or unemployed poor woman? Tuition Fees or books for a poor student? Some money to ease the days for the unemployed people? A small monthly stipend to the poor that may bring a ray of hope in their lives and may perhaps deter them from abandoning their children to the fogs of terrorist factories?
We can think of many ways to make Him happy and spare the lamb. May Allah bless you and your family.
Note: This is based on an earlier post published on temporal’s blog Baithak.
> The issue of eating meat is different from the brutality that this so-called ‘sacrifice’ has become.
@Afsandyar: Brutality? I’m assuming that animals in slaughter houses in western countries are killed in a very nice manner. I’m sure you know that they are hit with a hammer between their eyes to stun them, and often the process of skinning them begins even before they are dead.
Adnan, maybe you should read the comment again. Slowly. With a dictionary by your side. You obviously did not understand it.
By the way, do please tell us all what the “religious roots” of Thanksgiving are. Please do.
Asfand: Thanks for admitting that it’s all about religion and has nothing to do with Animal Love or something else. So if US celebrates thanksGiving, it’s OK because that’s not Islamic, right? :-)
@Animal Lover: As expected, you continue the tradition of running away and you re leaving behind traces of your ignorance and stupidity. Go away and come back next year with more quality ignorance.
@Animal Lover, I knew you have no answer to justify your statements. You are continuously posing yourself as a troll. As I said before, you run away when someone tries to bring you in the field. See how re you running and have no answer about Thanks Giving. Thanks for proving that liberals often have upper chamber hollow which is often filled by West with residue of their society.
@Asfandyar: *grin*. Thanks for saying what I had been trying to say. It’s all about Islam(or against Islam) rather having love for Animal. It’s all about religion. Infact in US, ThanksGiving treated as “Secular Holiday” now despite of it had religious roots in past. Anyways.. I do agree that opposing scarification is only to show hatred against the religion Islam. This is why kids like Animal lover hide in bins or come up with lame funny statements when someone asks about slaughtering in other religions or societies.
>I saw some Islamic sacrifice videos on internet.It is hard to believe that in today’s ages, man can be soo barbaric. It is absolutely barbarian, uncultured and ugly.
@MJ: People from all religions eat meat. So much for Islamic sacrifice.
@Ray: I’m not surprised that you haven’t answered my question.
@Yusha.
1. I don’t think anyone has ‘attacked’ Islam.
2. Turkey – or Thanksgiving – has NOTHING to do with Christianity or with any religion. It is not a religious tradition at all. It is an American tradition dealing with the first settlers and native Americans. No religious aspect to it at all.
3. Even if there were, I do not like when non-Muslims teach me about what is Islam, and I do not wish to preach to Christians about what Christianity is. I do know that there are plenty of Christians who are constantly writing about animal rights. I don’t think that my Islam should be dictated by what Christians do or not do. You should also stop looking towards other religions to get the ‘right’ interpretation of Islam.
4. The issue of eating meat is different from the brutality that this so-called ‘sacrifice’ has become. But I assume that is too deep a point for you.
5. I am all for sacrifice. There is no need to kill a poor animal to sacrifice. Sacrifice – and sunnat-i-Ibrahimi – is to give up that which is dear to you to those in need in the name of God. That is done much better by sacrificing that which is really dear to us (our wealth and resources) rather than buying a decked up beast a day before Eid to have sho-sha in your mohalla.
6. The day we stop making Islam a children’s contest – either between the teeth of your bakra and your neighbors bakra, or between Islam and some other religion – maybe that day we will become better Muslims too.
Some of the comments have attacked Islam for the animal sacrifice on Eid al-Adha. However, no one has said anything about Christianity for the killing of turkeys. Please let me know why.
@Animal Lover: That’s not the answer to my question to Ray. Please read the question again.