There are articles being written these days urging Muslims to realize that animal sacrifice isnt Islamically desirable.The points that are being raised need to be responded to. To me the following issues have been raised in these articles: 1. Ibrahim alaihissalam wasnt commanded to sacrifice his son by God and the consequent animal sacrifice is not necessarily a God-ordained Islamic ritual. 2. The purpose of slaughtering animals is to inculcate the spirit of sacrifice which is hardly ever achieved through following this ritual. 3. The idea of animal sacrifice is against animal rights more particularly when they are slaughtered in an inhumane way. 4. The poor could be helped in more effective ways than through distributing animal meat. 5. There is a lot of pollution being spread because of animal sacrifice. Let me briefly comment on these points one by one. The dream Ibrahim alaihissalam saw was from God. Prophets are prevented from experiencing Satanic dreams. If they too could be influenced by Satanic dreams then the divine guidance through prophets would have become seriously suspect. The fact is that the dream was meant to symbolically ask him to submit to Gods will and assign his son exclusively to serve the house of God. Although he could have interpreted it symbolically too, he preferred to interpret it literally. And God intervened by ransoming his son with a ram. This animal sacrifice has since then become a part of the Islamic ritual to revive in the believer the spirit of sacrifice for God: to be prepared to do whatever he can within his means to serve God and righteousness. It is true that the ritual is not helping in inculcating the true spirit of sacrifice in the believer. However, the right response to the situation is not to do away with the ritual of sacrifice but to inculcate the real spirit in the believer. No one has a right to exclude from the contents of religion what God has included in it. Animal sacrifice at the time of Hajj and Eidul Azha has become a part of the Islamic practice not without Gods will. In fact, it is very much a part of the package of formal Islamic rituals like prayers, Hajj, fasting etc that have come down to us from generation to generation without any interruption. These practices are as authentic as the Quran itself. It needs to be clarified however that animal sacrifice is a voluntary religious ritual. God hasnt made it binding on anyone. Animal slaughtering is done at the behest of God, the Creator of those animals. Had He not permitted, we wouldnt have done it. However, it should certainly be done in the most humane manner. Strict rules should be made and applied to ensure that the minimum standards of slaughtering animals humanely are followed. It is binding on all believers. If someone wants to help the poor through some other way instead of distributing animal meat, it is up to him. Animal sacrifice is not obligatory. Even in Hajj it is obligatory only on those who avail the facility of doing Umra before Hajj in the same journey. However, comparing helping the poor with animal sacrifice is comparing apples with oranges. Animal sacrifice is a symbolic ritual to show devotion to God. Distributing meat to the poor is not an essential part of the exercise. The one who does animal sacrifice can consume the entire meat himself without inviting Gods displeasure. The one who will help the poor with the money he was meant to do animal sacrifice with is replacing an act of direct expression of devotion to God with an act of pleasing God through helping the poor. It his prerogative to make a choice. However, during the days of Hajj there is no better act of piety than to do animal sacrifice to express ones devotion to God. of course, it is important that it should be done in the right spirit. There is no doubt about the fact that pollution needs to be avoided under all circumstances. To do wudu for prayers is a religious requirement which creates a sense of cleanliness in us before we worship God. If people make places of wudu in Masajid where water gets splashed around, making the floor slippery for others, the blame lies on the people who have made those arrangements in defiance of Gods expectation from the believer to remain clean. The act of wudu cant be blamed for the mess that is being created. Likewise, is the case of animal sacrifice. It should be done in a manner that the principles of hygiene are not compromised. Muslims do animal sacrifice in many other parts of the world without causing pollution to the environment. Ensuring that high standards of pollution-preventing measures are maintained is an important religious obligation which Muslim rulers in particular must ensure KZaheer
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 05:22:52 +0000
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