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.
Islam kay thekadar, like Ibrahim, will never be convinced. They even dispute Quranic verses as long as their own pir faqir has not said something. As Ibrahim says himself, for him religion is closed. Good for him, I say. But for us Muslims, Islam remains a vibrant religion that is as alive today as it was 1400 years ago. It fits in todays world as well as it did in the world of 1400 years ago. Islam is a modern religion that can deal with changing times – that is why it is eternal – it does not need people like Ibrahim to ‘confine’ and ‘defend’ it. Allah will do so Himself.
Holy Prophet(pbuh) did not suggest or practice this, four rightly guided khalifas did not suggest or practice it, Imam Abu Hanif, Imam Shafai, Imam Ahmad bin Hanble, Imam Malik all did not suggest or practice it, Shah Waliullah, Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi did not suggest or practice it, Maulana Maududi, Maulana Tariq Jamil, Maulana Taqi Usmani did not suggest it or practice it.
But, since Temporal is suggesting and practicing this fallacy, we should do it as well!
wat the nonsense
Ibrahim, yes, temporal is very confused.
But it has nothing to do with his heart. Lets not go where we do not need to go.
Now, one minor clarification, since you allude that you “know” Arabic, where does it say “the actual moon is seen by at least two witnesses”?
Also, while you are are it, is the word associated with crescent “shaha’dhin” or “na’zaran”? And could you share the meaning of the words as you understand them?
temporal…let me clear your confusion because you’re clearly a very confused person.
Yes, Islam, is for all times which means the orders of Allah and His messenger (saw) are to be obeyed at all times. The fundamentals of Islam aren’t some sort of programmable chip that can be tweaked based on changing variables. If this is your understanding of Islam, then stop talking about it because you know nothing.
And, yes, when Allah says to ponder it doesn’t mean to find some “majazi” meaning that would negate the command of Allah Himself, like your “thinking” has led you to abandon an order to sacrifice in the Qur’an itself. And, with all this thinking you’ve doing has it never occurred to you that in 1400+ years people couldn’t see the true meaning of Eid al-adha. And, you don’t even know Arabic to understand the depth of Qur’an.
You’re wrong…it’s not just the hudood that can’t be touched (not that the liberals have done so), but the whole of religion in its spirit and fundamentals remains unchanged and is off limits.
What does Coke or Pepsi have to do here? As long as what you’re drinking is halaal Islam doesn’t say much else, whether that drink was invented yesterday or a thousand years ago. As for salat times, they’ve been developed based on observations of when dawn comes in, sun rises/sets and when the shadow grows twice the length, etc. And, that’s why the times don’t change from year to year. It’s not that the times have been arbitrarily picked or do not correspond to the actual physical phenomena like sun set/rises, etc, and can’t be verified by those who wish to look outside the window. Anybody can look at the time for sunset and look outside to see it’s indeed sunset.
But, as for moon sighting it’s required that the actual moon is seen by at least two witnesses. This is what Islam says and thus this is why calendars for moon birth, etc. aren’t used because it can’t be verified by people. If moon sighting was as straight forward as sun’s movement during the day then using a calendar for moon sighting won’t be an issue because the dates on calendar could easily be verified.
Nobody is suggesting that you’re suggesting we abandon the act of worship that’s the sacrificing of an animal on Eid al-adha. What people do have an issue with is your lack of knowledge of Islam coupled with the spirit to change its injunctions that are clearly mentioned in the nusus (text…i.e. Qur’an and the ahadeeth).
Hence, I don’t think much of what I said will necessarily make you understand Islam because the problem isn’t in your head…it’s in your heart.
Briefly:
Qur’an is a guide book. Allah encourages followers to seek guidance. If Islam is for eternity, then with the changing needs and times there should be a mechanism to fine tune the requirements.
Since Allah encourages us to ponder and think, why should we abandon that invitation?
There are things that are inviolable. They come under hudood. I am not suggesting changing the hudoods. That is not the intent of this article. But in other areas we must seek the intent and endeavour to follow it in our lives.
There was no soft drink like Coke or Pepsi. Today everyone drinks it. Or, the salat time table that is framed in every mosque, that gives the prayers times for any day of the year. We do not employ the methods used by early Muslims for prayer timings.
The dichotomy is so very obvious. The same learned people who in their mosques rely on these charts to inform us of maghrib or as’r prayers in turn stand up and throw those principles out the window when it comes to sighting the new moon.
Finally, am not suggesting you do not sacrifice the animal. That is your prerogative. I’d you rather ponder and think the consequences of your actions and determine for yourself the intent of qurbaani and the end benefits. My intent is not to hurt your feelings.