spare the poor goat or lamb or cows 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.
hmm.I though people were sacrificing to stack their refrigerators with meat for the parties (dawatain) that last for weeks. I have lived in Karachi, and I was amazed by the amount of meat my neighbours had in their fridge. Very little or nothing gets to the poor actually. A few pieces of tongue and testicles (gross) of the animal did make it to my house. Almost every house sacrifice a goat or a cow excepts our cause we believed in the sacrifice of birds that don’t fly. I have also seen camels parrallel parked near some big houses. Oh one last thing ex-prime-minister Jamali was my neighbour. :)
You are going to get all the moulvis after you.
This siteh biggest racket and biggest pay day for the mullah mafia.
The khall business is HUGE. Billions of ruppees. Ever wonder how extremists are funded.May be through your own qurbani ki khall.
Of course the mullah does NOT want anyone to know what is really in teh Quran, they are just petty crooks making money through religion.
Bhai, if you start giving directly to the poor and the mustehek, the poor will benefit and Allah will be happy with your taqwa, but the moulvis will loose their biggest earning day and they will be really really mad at you! And you do not want to make the moulvi mad. Allah is forgiving, but as you will see from their comments, the moulvis are NOT.
My compliments to the author for raising this important but difficult subject. Of course practicing Muslims agree that the spirit of sacrifice is what is important. Certainly that spirit can also be shown through qurbani of animals. But for those on whom Allah has been kind can also show their generosity in other ways. Of course, Quran is very clear on this that neither the flesh nor the blood of the animals is what Allah is interested in. Allah wants to see our piety and of course Allah will reward it in whatever way the sacrifice is made. Of course if you spend your money instead of killing animals to help the needy and the poor, Allah will reward that too. Allah knows all and Allah rewards the good deeds in whatever way we make them.
Thank you Temporal for writing this.
Jazakallahul Khair
Alhamdullilah, a great post. I appreciate your making us think about the real meaning of ‘qurbani’ which is sacrifice and not about animals or no animals. The spirit of sacrifice is the what is wajib the rest is ritual.
Of course, for the Arabs a century ago, they counted wealth in animals so that is what was sacrificed. Today things are different and there is no need to do this necessary with animals. As long as the giving is in the name of Allah, and for the welfare of your community and to win the favor of Allah then in the eyes of Allah it does not matter whether it is oont or gaye or bakri. It is your sacrifice that counts.
i congratulate the author for his courage to present a point of view that is contrary to one most harmful prevailing culture.