Make this Eid ul Adha different: Spare the Animals
Eid ul Adha is on or around the corner. I wish you all a safe, happy and fulfilling celebration with your family and friends.
All I ask is, please spare the poor goat or lamb or cow’s life. For those who want to sacrifice this writer instead, please scroll down and read Chapter 22, Verse 37 from the Holy Qur'an as translated by Marmaduke, Yusufali, Asad and Usmani: or pick your own copy and re-read it.
The Qur'an talks about your devotion, piety, God-consciousness and taqwa that reaches Him. 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?
The Holy Qur'an, Chapter 22, Verse 37.
The[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.Marmaduke
[22:37]
It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches God: it is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to you, that ye may glorify God for His Guidance to you and proclaim the good news to all who do right. Abdullah Yusufali
[22:37]
[But bear in mind:] never does their flesh reach God, and neither their blood: it is only your God-consciousness that reaches Him. It is to this end that We have made them subservient to your needs, so that you might glorify God for all the guidance with which He has graced you. And give thou this glad tiding unto the doers of good Muhammad Asad
[22:37]
It is neither their flesh nor their blood that reaches Allah, but what does reach Him is the taqwā (the sense of obedience) on your part. Thus He has made them (the animals) subjugated to you, so that you proclaim Allah’s glory for the guidance He gave you. And give good news to those who are good in their deeds. Mufti Muhammed Taqi Usmani
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.
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.
All I ask is, please spare the poor goat or lamb or cow’s life. For those who want to sacrifice this writer instead, please scroll down and read Chapter 22, Verse 37 from the Holy Qur'an as translated by Marmaduke, Yusufali, Asad and Usmani: or pick your own copy and re-read it.
The Qur'an talks about your devotion, piety, God-consciousness and taqwa that reaches Him. 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?
The Holy Qur'an, Chapter 22, Verse 37.
The[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.Marmaduke
[22:37]
It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches God: it is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to you, that ye may glorify God for His Guidance to you and proclaim the good news to all who do right. Abdullah Yusufali
[22:37]
[But bear in mind:] never does their flesh reach God, and neither their blood: it is only your God-consciousness that reaches Him. It is to this end that We have made them subservient to your needs, so that you might glorify God for all the guidance with which He has graced you. And give thou this glad tiding unto the doers of good Muhammad Asad
[22:37]
It is neither their flesh nor their blood that reaches Allah, but what does reach Him is the taqwā (the sense of obedience) on your part. Thus He has made them (the animals) subjugated to you, so that you proclaim Allah’s glory for the guidance He gave you. And give good news to those who are good in their deeds. Mufti Muhammed Taqi Usmani
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.
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.
posted by temporal at 11/06/2011
18 Comments:
Dear baithak,
Its very important to know what the Festival of Eid-ul-Adha means.
"The Festival commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim(PBUH) to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God."
please request you to read the transcripts of them and understand the importance of sacrifice.
The alternatives which you have suggested have their own importance, its not comparable with the sacrificial event.
The Quranic verses which u have highlighted are true and correct, but the inferences which you have drawn from it are wrong.
please Consult an Islamic Scholar regarding it.
Thanks
Dear temporal,
Very good article once again by you.Thanks for the same.
Sacrifice is a symbolic act which should mean offering something from one’s own possession. Naturally, animal is a creation of Allah. How can it be called a muslim’s possession? When something does not belong to you,in the first place, the question of sacrificing it does not arise. Killing an Allah’s creation without any justified reason is the worst thing, and never the intention of Holy Q’uran. Countless innocent animals are brutally killed in the name of religion.Its nothing but stupidity.
"The Festival commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim(PBUH) to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God."
Okay,to literally and exactly follow this,can you kill your own sons rather than lambs! Or,place a knife over your son's throat and let's see if a lamb is butchered instead!!
If that does not happen practically (and it will never happen nowadays because you're not Ismail(PBUH) afterall),it means Allah is not in favor of killing the poor animal. Any muslim can try it and conclude that Allah does not want to kill its own creations in this way.
But then, only open minds have courage to listen, and think wise.
Thank you for having the courage to think on your own and express this thought, rather than to blindly follow.
I agree with your explanation of what Allah is asking us to do, i.e. sacrifice from something that we hold dear, e.g. materialistic possessions.
I think we can make this world a little bit less messed-up, if we do some of the things you suggested; on going educational support for the poor, training of useful skills so the poor may stand on their own, etc.
Thank you for having the courage to think on your own and express this thought, rather than to blindly follow.
I agree with your explanation of what Allah is asking us to do, i.e. sacrifice from something that we hold dear, e.g. materialistic possessions.
I think we can make this world a little bit less messed-up, if we do some of the things you suggested; on going educational support for the poor, training of useful skills so the poor may stand on their own, etc.
apprecaite your comments mudassir:
He encourages us to think and ponder.
thanks ahsen and animal lover
i remember you wrote something similar on last eid as well. I can see how you were not being able to answer those who even asked you a simple question,"are you a veggie?"
Anyways,how wickedly you quoted a verse out of context(similar to jahil molvis) and did not mention just ONE verse above which even explained what to do with slaughtered meat. From 22:36
"The animal offerings are among the rites decreed by GOD for your own good.* You shall mention GOD's name on them while they are standing in line. Once they are offered for sacrifice, you shall eat therefrom and feed the poor and the needy. This is why we subdued them for you, that you may show your appreciation. "
Though Iqbal said this for jahil molvis but today it fits well on people like you who themselves don;t understand Quran yet produce new meanings:
"Khud Badalte Nahin Quran Ko Badal Dete Hain
"Hain Huwey Kis Darja Faqeehane Haram Be Taufiq"
Happy BBQ day.!
anon:
i will let you wonder about that vegetarian bit;)
i wish more people read rather than recite without understanding the Book and the big picture
maulvis are human beings too and they come in all shape and sizes..why single out the jaahil moulvis?
the Book also encourages one to think and ponder...
when the maulvis do that to arrive at a conclusion that they can drink pepsi or coca cola which did not exist circa 1 AH they do not call it bidaa but when others use the same process they jump upon them with vengeance because they feel their turf is being invaded
hum muwahhid haiN kaish hay....
temporal:
let me clarify that anon guy is me. I had chosen the wrong option and before I changed, i had already hit submit button.
I have no issue if ur a veggie and u have right not to eat meat but quoting quran out of the context is sign of jahil molvi and you proved yourself one of them. Why did your eyes got closed while reding 22:36 which gave clear picture. Like jahil mullahs you quoted things out of the context to prove your point. Yes quran encourages to think but same Quran also says "Deaf dumb and blind and they understand not".. and sadly your cunning attempt just comes under same category.
my boy, be brave and don't seek shelter behind Quran to express your own agenda. Its quite sissy thing.
Read 22:36. If you are high myopic then I am going to make it in bold.
"The animal offerings are among the rites decreed by GOD for your own good.* You shall mention GOD's name on them while they are standing in line. Once they are offered for sacrifice, you shall eat therefrom and feed the poor and the needy. This is why we subdued them for you, that you may show your appreciation. "(22:36)
Read again and again and come outof your delusional mode.
22:37 comes after 22:36
:)
there is no compulsion ... in religion
and
in views i express...you may concur or you may chose not to
bottom line is six fet under, when each one of us has to be answerable for our deeds
very nice reply by temporal.
animals are also creation of Allah and they too have equal right to live.
Only Allah may take back their lives.
Isn't it interesting that people with weak arguments have to become rude and demeaning, as if that somehow reinforces their point of view? Kudos to temporal for keeping the cool.
22:37 comes after 22:36
wow. so you are saying that Quran is contradicting itself(godforbid)? Thanks for sharing your belief and coming out of your shell
there is no compulsion ... in religion
Again you acted like a jahil mullah and quoted something which you have no idea at all. If you would have bothered to read Quran then you would have realised that this aya was revealed to tell Muslims NOT to force someone to become Muslim. It was not SENT for MUSLIMS to accept one part of the Quran and reject other.
Kindly save yourself from embarassement while quoting Quran or hadith. It's just like an art student argur with a computer engineer about software methodologies after reading here and there. Offcourse people would call that art student an ignorant and idiot. If you r wise,which I assume you re then do talk sensibly. As I said you have full right not to follow a religion but don't make sick attempts to pollute a religion.
Also, you did not respond my questions I asked on Adil website. For your reference I am quoting it here:
Having a piece of chicken tikka in mouth and making a post about “sparing an Animal”? Amazing my friend.
I wonder where do all such “animal friendly” lectures blow away when people attend some fashion show or some music concert? Why does not people think of poors who don’t have a roti while having a dinner in some expensive restaurant?
You need to clarify whether you are a person who never likes meat or it’s just another attempt to show off your irritation about a religion’s ritual.
Oh by the way , should I say you,”Happy Thanks giving” and offer a turkey? ;)
Do answer it honestly. "Charity begins from home". Did you spend thousands of rupees in some charity in past few weeks. Did you miss out some socil gathering just for saving few pennies and giving it to needful. Did you arrange foor for others?
thnkfully there are very few crackpots in our society in the form of left and right wing fanatics otherwise life could be hell. Don't go far. If you just read your post on ADil website then you would see that many are just babbling around..rather putting forward some concrete argument. You quoted Taqi Usmani. I dont want to suffer further embarrassment by citing an artcie about Eidul Adha by him.
A friendly advise: Do what you re good at it. Don't try ot be master of all while you are not.
have fun
Adnan:
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.
digressions:
22:37 comes after 22:36 wow. so you are saying that Quran is contradicting itself(godforbid)? Thanks for sharing your belief and coming out of your shell
If you read any book for yourself you will find out that Qur'an in its present form is not how it was revealed to the prophet (saw).
also
The guidelines are there and He intones time and again for the Muslims to think and ponder. It is too bad we have squandered that invitation and rely on others to interpret for us
Having a piece of chicken tikka in mouth and making a post about “sparing an Animal”? Amazing my friend.
I do not make friends with clairvoyants. I chose to ignore your innuendos and facetiousness. May He give you guidance.
I chose to ignore your innuendos and facetiousness. May He give you guidance.
*grin*
I only commented with my own name. There are many who opposed your futile and lame 'Fatwa'. Offcourse for jahil mullahs, everyone else is an infidel and misguided who does not follow them. Thanks for being Iqbal's "Deen-e-Mullah fe Sabil-e-Fasad"
my turn to grin at "I only commented with my own name."
since i "rejected" that other anonmyous post of yours (emanating fromthe same IP address)
@AnimalLover
animal is a creation of Allah. How can it be called a muslim’s possession?
Humans are creation of Allah too.. the air you breathe is a creation of allah too... if thats the case then you stop breathing..
you r a vegeterian? i assume so.. Kindly do your research on plants and ask yourself whether you are killing it or not..!
i have missed a lot of discussion.. i will go through each one by one and write my comments on it..
Dear Muddassir:
You did not get me. My point is that 'sacrifice' can only be made of something you own or possess or something created by your ownself.
Animals are a different species-not born of a human embryo.
When you kill them, it is slaughter for food etc. Of course,you can be thankful to Allah while killing them. But this does not make slaughter a "sacrifice". This is similiar to killing of animals by other carnivores who kill for food but do not claim that they have sacrificed for almighty.
Labeling slaughter as something very religious or "sacrifice" and trying to justify mass-killings in the name of Allah or religion is what is being questioned.
I'm not claiming that i'm sacrificing air, so such analogy is unfounded.
I think that a combination of our seemingly-inherent bloodlust and a sanctimonious devotion to the flesh of edible animals encourages Muslims to go on a kind of Mongoloid (in the Changezian, not the Downs, sense) rampage. We see it as our sacred duty to slaughter collectively as many goats, cows, camels, sheep as we can lay our bloodthirsty hands on. (Chickens, and fowl in general, get a one-day reprieve on this glorious day, presumably because they are too paltry - if you'll pardon the assonance - to satisfy us.)
We forget entirely the relinquishment element of the sacrifice, choosing instead to express our piety and divine obedience through ritual mass slaughter.
Don't get me wrong. I am not a vegetarian. While I eschew steak as far as possible (munh thak jaata hai chaba chaba ke), I am often to be found around meal-times toying with meat in one or more of its edible guises.
The point of the post is that we are encouraged to sacrifice something which is of value to us, with Ibrahim's example to guide us. As usual we have taken the whole thing too literally and instead of truly relinquishing something of value (material or otherwise), we take instead the selfish opportunity to fulfill our carnivorous yearnings.
In the way that among Christians the Communion has sanctified the consumption of alcohol, the Ibrahimi parable has consecrated the ingestion of meat amongst Muslims.
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