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.
@Salman, very nice indeed, i wanna ask a question from those who think animal slaughter is brutality, are the vegetables that we pick from trees not alive before we separate them from trees?? they are alive till we do not pick them from trees. so, isn’t it brutality??? if it is and we should stop eating vegetables as well, then what sould we eat??
Some comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
– “I totally agree. Good article. The waste is tremendous. Most of teh cost is for show and much less than what the meat is worth to teh poor it is supposed to help.”
– “Blasphemous !!!! :@”
– “Yes, right! We have forgotten the lesson that H. Ibrahim(A.S) gave us. Istead, we buy the healthy and expensive animals just to show off! Anyway, we are Muslims and we have to sacrifice animal on this Eid if we can afford to do so but we should also help destitutes and should pray to Almighty Allah that may He show us the straight path! Ameen”
– “NO, we do not have to sacrifice “ANIMALS”, we have to “SACRIFICE IN THE WAY OF ALLAH” that which we hold dear…. how many of you hold “animals” more dear to your heart than the money in your wallet…. sacrifice that which you hold dear! It will help your fellow men and please Allah!”
– “If i agree to “what you hold dear” then i will have to sacrifice my parents because that the thing I love most!!!!!!!!!!! I agree its not about buying the most expensive animal and showing it off but we need to sacrifice an animal, if we can afford one. As for donating money, if we are just doing that on this eid and not the whole year round then that’s use less”
– “Quit trying to make religion politicaly correct.You either believe or you dont!”
– “We cannot change what the religion has told us.”
– “Agreed with Munazza. Please refrain from trying to make a “must do” into a “can do” and then “can be avoided” situation.’
– “I totally endorse the opinion…am delighted that there still are people in our nation who are capable of looking at the larger picture…hats off to the writer!
For those whose religious sensitivities are hurt, it is essential to understand that this is just a piece of opinion, a suggestion to make things better in our social framework, and not an attempt to tamper with the religion’s adjuncts…The writer intends to highlight the need for stressing on the “spirit” behind a teaching of Islam and not just the “ritual”….I would like to add to the standpoint by drawing everyone’s attention towards numerous religious rituals that have been reduced to mere festivals, no one being bothered about how the message behind that should change an individual’s spiritual makeup….please take this in stride!”
– “if the idea was somewhere near correct it would have been endorsed by Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W.) himself. And as HE hasn’t done so, there’s no credibility or opinion whatsoever about it. An empty head’s a devil’s workshop think about better things and have a life.”
– “the author need to refrain by putting self made rubbish theories onto a religion. you don’t need to innovate things out of the context.”
– “yeah, right!! we must sacrifice an animal if we can afford to do so because it’s wajib and we can’t change religion with our own made theories. what Allah has ordered us, we must do that!!!’
– “well for a second lets not get emotional and just think on what writer has written. We do not slaughter animals just because its an order. Today we do it to tell others how BIG we are.”
– “hmmm if you dont have EMOTIONAL side for religion than whats in for saying we are BIG, why care :-”
aint it dichtomy or what………………”
– “What Sunnat they are following in slaughtering cows, goats, etc., by making their houses slaughter-houses for a day to eat and exchange lumps of flesh, whereas the prophet, Ibrahim, had actually attempted to sacrifice his son, a harram being, in compliance with the dream in which he is stated to have seen Allah ordering him so , not a goat to eat and share?”
– “thats the thing we get emotional and we want others to know that feelings of greatness is also emotional. anyhow no offense eid mubarik. enjoy it in any way u want”
As-Salamu Alaykum to all friends
Alhamdulillah, I am so happy to see the true spirit of Islam being discussed and brought out in this article by Temporal. Our beloved religion has been highjacked by those who have never read the Quran and never tried to understand its beauty. They follow the rituals as if that is what mattered, even though Allah tells us again and again that it is the intentions that we are judged on.
Alhamdulillah, you are exactly right that there is no need for killing animals of wasting so much money on impressing your neighbors. Allah wants you to think of the suffering of His people and help them by sharing your wealth. That is the only true test of Muslims. The ayah you quote makes this very clear also, Alhamdulillah.
I am very happy to seeing the true meaning of this day being discussed instead of some people and many mosques using this sacred day as a way to make lots of money for their own greed.
Jazakallah khairan.
Very good points by the writer, thank you!
Good point Usman.
How about giving up the ritual of circumcision and spending the few hundred dollars on the needy in Pakistan. Next, this “no name” writer is going to ask Muslims to forgo Hajj and instead spend the money on some one’s books or sewing machines.
Please give us a break.
BTW – how much do you spend on clothes that you really don’t need, food you can live without and other luxuries you waste on your self. First fix that and plenty of other things around your existence before going after Qurbani.