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.
And there is amusing thing mentioned by u and one another person that it is due to the slaughtering that the prices of meat are getting higher! lol… Is there anything in our country which is getting cheap? Tell me so that i can buy it. lol… Real problem is that we are far away fron Islam and that is the main reason of all these problems
sorry, it’s “What i Know( i wrote ‘what i no’ mistakenly)” and also “i don’t know where u took that translation from (i mistakenly wrote “those translations” while i am talking about only verse no 22:33)”
I also appreciate the honesty and decency of discussion. I don’t really think that this is a big issue but I do appreciate that ATP has provided a forum where these issues can be discussed decently.
@animal lover:
i don’t know why u are saying it again and again that slaughtering animals was necessity in Prophet’s(pbuh) times while it’s not today. weren’t there enough vegetables or fruits that could provide subtitute for meat?? it is said about Holy Prophet(pbuh) that he also liked some vegetables and used to eat them. also, arabs were and are fond of olive. but still, prophet(pbuh) slaughtered and eat the meat of animals. please, clarify urself. what made u think that rubbish??
and for the one who says that he likes the meat of a goat as u mentioned, i would say that our intention should be clear and that should be that the animal we gonna slaughter is a sacrificial animal and we are fulfilling a wajib. but yes, we can choose what kinda animal we should buy because after all, we also have to eat the meat of animal after giving a share of meat to the destitutes. if one likes the meat of goat, he can or should buy goat because islam is clear. Prophet(pbuh) said: if u don’t like something while u r eating, u should eat something else but without disgracing the thing u do not like. i would again say that our intentions should be clear!!!! and for “that’s why i am not a prophet”, i would request u to please give the complete paragraph in which he wrote this” because if he said this, i would need to see on what ocassion he said this before i infer whether he did right or wrong.
u say “Doesn’t this also mean that today muslims interpret the subject according to their convenience or what suits them.” it is what u r doing by changing a thing what Prophet(pbuh) did.
for kindness towards animals, i must say that we should be kind. but by slaughtering them, we do not become cruel as my Prophet(pbunh) himself did it.
ok, so u have a credence in the research of those who never wanted or want Muslims to sacrifice cow. Mr they consider cow their god and who wants his god to be slaughtered(lol)? they want us to refarin from slaughtering cows by their own made researches. they tried to ban cow slaughtering before partition but after partition, they can’t stop it happening in Pakistan. so, they do this. u can see in India, they do not allow Muslims to sacrifice animal. what I no is that the slaughtering of sacrificial animals is being done since 1400 years but there is no shortage of sacrificial animals. every year in Pakistan, there comes more sacrificial animals in animal market than previous year.
and u say that it was the necessity of ancient people to slaughter animals but u should believe that Quran is a code of life for all Muslims to come. when Quran has made HALAL to sacrifice animals, how can u say that it is HARAM nowadays??
(6:142)Of the cattle are some for burden and some for meat: eat what Allah hath provided for you, and follow not the footsteps of Satan: for he is to you and avowed enemy.
I will try to come back before next year’s Bakra Eid and post in this Topic.
This Topic has generated quite a lot of responses which is a hopeful sign–for goats! Thank you all for a civil discourse.