Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Eid - Is Animal Sacrifice Obligatory?

I had posted an entry when a tragedy had struck Hajj and had expressed my opinion on why Hajj is restricted to only 2 days and why not to 4 sacred months as God has stated.

Another thing that is of interest... is sacrificing an animal obligatory? No. Not at all. Sacrificing an animal on Eid ul Azha is not obligatory. It is obligatory only on Pilgrims (Hajjis) who are on Hajj in Makkah. Sura Al-Hajj mentions the rites of pilgrimage.

22:36 - And the animals! We have appointed them among the ceremonies of Allah. Therein ye have much good. So mention the name of Allah over them when they are drawn up in lines. Then when their flanks fall (dead), eat thereof and feed the beggar and the suppliant. Thus have We made them subject unto you, that haply ye may give thanks.

God has made things easy for us but we act otherwise. Look at the trouble that people have to go through by arranging for sacrificial animal. A person with low income resource cannot think of buying the animals for sacrifice as they are exorbitantly expensive.

I heard that a bull was being sold for 1 million Rupee! What on earth is wrong with people?! A goat for 500,000! Are you kidding me?! Is this what Eid is for?! What a pathetic show off! Where is that spirit that is required at such event.

22:37 - Their flesh and their food reach not Allah, but the devotion from you reacheth Him. Thus have We made them subject unto you that ye may magnify Allah that He hath guided you. And give good tidings (O Muhammad) to the good.

Oh some devotion we show!

I am not at all against sacrificing animal for the benefit of the poor. Even better if you do not want to sacrifice an animal and contribute financially to help someone! 'Sadqa' and 'khairat' are wonderful things as form of charity. But animal sacrifice being equated to obligation on muslims is not right! And why restrict it to one day for that matter?! Should you not be helping the poor this way on other days as well?!

It becomes a burden as well! Not everyone is capable of dishing out so much money. When a person cant afford to buy sacrificial animal... imagine what he/ she will have to go through. He does not have enough money! forget money for worldly affairs.. he does not have money to spend in the way of God! And then the society.. 'You do not plan to sacrifice any animal this time?' God can be handled.. humans cannot be handled!

And lastly.. the filth! First our local administration is not that efficient in collecting animal waste. Then 'we' do not bother to dispose off properly! The end result.. a huge mess and stench! Awful to say the least.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is not my opinion or your opinion that counts in Islam ... Rather, it is the opinion of the scholars that counts--the opinion they received from their teachers, who received it from their teachers, who received it from their teachers, in an unbroken chain back to the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace). This is called the "Isnad" or "The Chain of Transmission".

Karim said...

tode scholars could be wrong. beliefs can get tainted over time.every sect differs in its interpretation of the hadith
there is a need to adopt a less dogmatic approach on interpreting the quran and hadith.

Anonymous said...

A good one again. Practicality should rule the day. Can you answer if the original concept was to sacrifice a near and dear one. If not doing full justice to the concept, why do it for the sake of it. I much agree that convert the same to some charity in cash or kind in your local community.
Animal sacrifice is part of other religon(s) as well and i have the same opinion in my mind for those ones as well.

Anonymous said...

...please where can I buy a unicorn?

PostMan said...

.. on the nearest gas station that you can find.