Ridwan Bin Wali Ullah :
Eid-ul-Azha, festival of sacrifice, is not only special joyous day for Muslim Ummah but also one of the symbols and rituals of Allah, the ever knowing and wise, and a great chance to draw closer to almighty, the most merciful. It is orderly revealed in the Quran, the complete code of life, that Allah states: `So perform the Salat for your Lord and slaughter’- (Al Kawther:2).The festival is observed every year in Muslim Society but who analyses the depth thought and teaching of this unparalleled adoration. Authentic study of the Holy Quran, Sunnah and Islamic History puts forward the background of the authenticity of this ritual that the conception of sacrifice, for the first time, came from Habil and Kabil’s, two sons of Prophet Adam (A.), animal offering to be sacrificedfor the sake of Allah to be justified that who is right on his assertion between them. It is to be cleared that Habil’s sacrifice was accepted by Allah and Kabil’s sacrifice was rejected due to his violating the rule of Adam’s Shariah on the issue of marriage law. As a result, Kabil killed his brother Habil, that is mentioned in the sura Al Mayidah:30. Kabil’s loser for violating the Adam’s Shariah and Habil’s martyrdom to secure his legalreligious right, every yearduring the time of Qurbani, invokes the whole humankind to stand for securing human rights.
The key conception of symbolic sacrifice derived from the devotion of prophet Ibrahim (A.) for the satisfaction of Allah through sacrificing his beloved child Ismail (A.) to obey the command of Allah, what was revealed in a dream to Ibrahim (A.). Ismail’s unwavering loyalty to the noble willing of his father, is the perspicuous indication for the sons to obey and secure his father’s right. Allah says, “and when he was old enough to go about and work with him, (one day) Abraham said to him: “My son, I see in my dream that I am slaughtering you. So consider (and tell me) what you think.” He said: “Do as you are bidden. You will find me, if Allah so wills, among the steadfast-(As Saffat:102)”. Human rights between father and son cannot be violated, if the vital duties of both of father and child are fulfilled.
According to Quranic indication as stated in sura An Nisa:36, Bani Israil:26 and the guideline of Hadith in Baihaki:9218, Bukhari:5557, Islamic Scholars say that it is Mustahab (preferable) to distribute the meat of Qurbani into three portion, one third is for poor people, another portion isfor neighbor, relatives, friends and the last is for household. If the meat could be distributedproperly among poor people and the rich could stand by destitute families around the country, the impoverished people would not want to get involved in crimes or activities subversive of the society and country like looting, embezzling wealth or murder.
It was Kabil’s stewardship to give his blood-sister in marriage with Habil, which was a ‘Trust’ (amanat) to him. In the same way, Ismael (A.) was a ‘Trust’ from Allah to his father Ibrahim (A.), which he was obliged to give back to his Creator when he was asked for it.Many of the anti-humanitarian acts would have been stopped if all ‘Trusts’ had been rendered to its owners. Qurbani reminds us of the great virtue of trustworthiness, which, if properly implemented, would have strengthened human rights and mitigated most of the anarchy in the society. Sacrifice with illicit wealth is not acceptable to Allah because the principal purpose of Qurban is Taqwah. Allah stats ‘It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches Him-(Sura Al Hajj:37).So, one who has sacrificed can never be involved in interest, bribery and corruption, which are gross human rights violations.
As stated in Bukhari, Tabarani and Ahmad, apart from the sacrifice for himself, The Last Rasul Muhammad (Sm.) used to sacrifice a second animal on behalf of those who can’t afford it from his Ummah, which is a great teaching of sacrificing for impecuniouspeople and injunction of securing human rights.
In a nutshell, not selfishness but the immense dedication for securing human right is the outstanding teaching of Qurbani, which is the exemplary key to build a resilient society for our beloved next generation.
Eid-ul-Azha, festival of sacrifice, is not only special joyous day for Muslim Ummah but also one of the symbols and rituals of Allah, the ever knowing and wise, and a great chance to draw closer to almighty, the most merciful. It is orderly revealed in the Quran, the complete code of life, that Allah states: `So perform the Salat for your Lord and slaughter’- (Al Kawther:2).The festival is observed every year in Muslim Society but who analyses the depth thought and teaching of this unparalleled adoration. Authentic study of the Holy Quran, Sunnah and Islamic History puts forward the background of the authenticity of this ritual that the conception of sacrifice, for the first time, came from Habil and Kabil’s, two sons of Prophet Adam (A.), animal offering to be sacrificedfor the sake of Allah to be justified that who is right on his assertion between them. It is to be cleared that Habil’s sacrifice was accepted by Allah and Kabil’s sacrifice was rejected due to his violating the rule of Adam’s Shariah on the issue of marriage law. As a result, Kabil killed his brother Habil, that is mentioned in the sura Al Mayidah:30. Kabil’s loser for violating the Adam’s Shariah and Habil’s martyrdom to secure his legalreligious right, every yearduring the time of Qurbani, invokes the whole humankind to stand for securing human rights.
The key conception of symbolic sacrifice derived from the devotion of prophet Ibrahim (A.) for the satisfaction of Allah through sacrificing his beloved child Ismail (A.) to obey the command of Allah, what was revealed in a dream to Ibrahim (A.). Ismail’s unwavering loyalty to the noble willing of his father, is the perspicuous indication for the sons to obey and secure his father’s right. Allah says, “and when he was old enough to go about and work with him, (one day) Abraham said to him: “My son, I see in my dream that I am slaughtering you. So consider (and tell me) what you think.” He said: “Do as you are bidden. You will find me, if Allah so wills, among the steadfast-(As Saffat:102)”. Human rights between father and son cannot be violated, if the vital duties of both of father and child are fulfilled.
According to Quranic indication as stated in sura An Nisa:36, Bani Israil:26 and the guideline of Hadith in Baihaki:9218, Bukhari:5557, Islamic Scholars say that it is Mustahab (preferable) to distribute the meat of Qurbani into three portion, one third is for poor people, another portion isfor neighbor, relatives, friends and the last is for household. If the meat could be distributedproperly among poor people and the rich could stand by destitute families around the country, the impoverished people would not want to get involved in crimes or activities subversive of the society and country like looting, embezzling wealth or murder.
It was Kabil’s stewardship to give his blood-sister in marriage with Habil, which was a ‘Trust’ (amanat) to him. In the same way, Ismael (A.) was a ‘Trust’ from Allah to his father Ibrahim (A.), which he was obliged to give back to his Creator when he was asked for it.Many of the anti-humanitarian acts would have been stopped if all ‘Trusts’ had been rendered to its owners. Qurbani reminds us of the great virtue of trustworthiness, which, if properly implemented, would have strengthened human rights and mitigated most of the anarchy in the society. Sacrifice with illicit wealth is not acceptable to Allah because the principal purpose of Qurban is Taqwah. Allah stats ‘It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches Him-(Sura Al Hajj:37).So, one who has sacrificed can never be involved in interest, bribery and corruption, which are gross human rights violations.
As stated in Bukhari, Tabarani and Ahmad, apart from the sacrifice for himself, The Last Rasul Muhammad (Sm.) used to sacrifice a second animal on behalf of those who can’t afford it from his Ummah, which is a great teaching of sacrificing for impecuniouspeople and injunction of securing human rights.
In a nutshell, not selfishness but the immense dedication for securing human right is the outstanding teaching of Qurbani, which is the exemplary key to build a resilient society for our beloved next generation.
(Ridwan Bin Wali Ullah is a columnist, researcher, MPhil from IUK. E-mail : [email protected])
