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.
@Naan Haleem: move on my friend. ZilHajj is over now. It’s Moharram now. Can we discuss the religious fanaticism officially exhibited by Shias in the month of Moharram? For instance this torture? Would Animal Lover(who probably be a Shia) shed light on this video?
http://tinyurl.com/359tk54
What a useless conversation this has become. Stubborn people talking past each other.
Can the two of you please let go of this. You have said your bit and neither is willing or able to see the others point. So why keep repeating it and becoming a nuscience for everyone else. Go your separate ways and do what you see fit!
Dear Najmul
I did not sacrifice that camel. I did not slaughter that camel. I was not present over there. I did not make the video. I did not upload it. I did not post comment on it neither did i said “Enjoy”.
The deeds of an unskilled butcher should not be taken as proof for declaring religious rituals as shameful. Did you care to call Americans “terrorists” when they killed civilians in Iraq with excuse of “incomplete information” or “friendly fire” or “lack of precision”?
Seriously, Sacrifice is not a matter of enjoyment, its obligation and must be done with an attitude of total submission to Allah rather than being funny about it.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Animal Lover…. you did exactly what i predicted…. lol….
You again avoided the Quranic verses and Ahaadith, I presented in response to your remarks like “animals are not for food” and “give me any Quranic verse or Hadith allowing slaughtering of animals on a particular day”.
I proved to you from Quran that Allah allows herbivorous animal to be slaughtered in His name and its meat be eaten and distributed among others (poor or not). {for reminder http://bit.ly/a28ua8}
Then I proved through a number of authentic Ahaadith from Sahih Bukhari that Allah’s Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) ordered Muslims to slaughter animals on Eid ul Adha {for reminder see the bottom comment on http://bit.ly/fRKpfx}
Rather than accepting commands of Allah and His Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), you have come up with a totally new topic – Kindness and mercy towards animals.
No question about it my dear. One must be kind and merciful towards animals. But one question arises: Should we keep umbrella inside the house all the time so it does not wear off due to rain or sunshine??? My point is we should be careful about our belongings but they have to be used for the purpose they are created. (Herbivorous) Animals are created as one source of food and till the time they are slaughtered, they should be taken care of but this does not imply that Allah forbids animals slaughtering.
Looks like you have run out of arguments so you have reproduced the text of a website propagating vegetarianism on the basis of selective references (like you did in the past) and which has already been proven false by our discussion on this blog.
Another big HAHAHA…. the website (www.submission.org) you present in support of your argument is infact announcing and propagating a NEW RELIGION named “Submission”. (look at the second para on their home page). My dear you can not bluff me: I took time to read the website even if you did not. They just wish to adopt the EASY ways of Islam and and present it as new face of secularism. Do you expect me to believe it in comparison to Quran and authentic Ahaadith from Sahih Bukhari?
Next you reproduced a complete article by someone like your own (again avoiding Quran and Hadith). I have already answered all the his question in our ATP discussion. Do you expect me to give my arguments on that blog as well???
The last webpage which which you advised me to read is again doing the same mistake (or clever deceit) you did, i.e. citing one or two verses WITHOUT CONTEXT. My dear, I have already given you sufficient reply of that here on ATP. {for reminder http://bit.ly/a28ua8}
I dont have personality clash, ego or any vendetta against you. I just presented Quran and Hadith in support of my argument. If you want to be vegetarian do as you like. You dont want to slaughter animals on Eid or otherwise, do as you like. You wish to love animals, do as you like. But please dont distort the facts. Do not give false or selective meanings to Allah’s commands.
I shall pray for Allah’s blessings upon you.