Bakr-Id

[Guest guest]

Bakr-Id is on November 28th. The word bakr means a goat or sheep. Vast

numbers of sheep, goats and camels are sacrificed all over the world. Camels

are walked for a over thousand kilometres to die a slow, harrowing and

painful death.

 

It is a re-enactment of Abraham's slaughter of the ram in lieu of his son.

When god gave Abraham permission to sacrifice a ram instead of his son, he

did not ask Abraham to make it an annual ritual. Nor did Abraham do so.

 

Can something be done to stop it? Please write and sensitize local Muslims

everywhere. We must stop this cruel practice.

 

Nanditha Krishna

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Some notes to share :

 

Book of Genesis :

And He said unto [Abraham], Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she

goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and

a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the

midst, and laid each piece against another. [Genesis 15:9-10]

 

And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and

get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering

upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. [Genesis 22:2]

 

*Book of Exodus:*

 

And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that

we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God [Exodus 10:25]

 

An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy

burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen [Exodus

20:24]

And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it

round about upon the altar. And thou shalt cut the ram into pieces, and wash

the inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his

head. And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt

offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto

the LORD. And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall

put their hands upon the head of the ram. Then shalt thou kill the ram, and

take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and

upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right

hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood

upon the altar round about. And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon

the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon

his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him:

and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons'

garments with him. Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and

the fat that coveth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two

kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a

ram of consecration. [Exodus 29:16-22]

 

 

*Wa `alaykum as-salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.*

 

*

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.*

 

*

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His

Messenger.*

 

 

`Eid Mubarak to you sister, and to all Muslims all over the world! Thanks

for forwarding your question to us. May Allah help us make our humble

efforts come up to your expectations.

 

Actually, there are many misconceptions filling the mind of many non-Muslims

who fail to perceive the significance and wisdom behind acts of worship in

Islam. That is why addressing those misconceptions becomes obligatory in

order to erase distortions about Islam. Thus, on the case in point, we find

it relevant to cite for you the following:

 

Sacrifice is not a pillar of Islam. We must look at the occurrences in a

contextual manner, understanding not only the pre-Islamic institution of

sacrifice, the Qur'anic reforms concerning this practice, and the

continuance of sacrifice in the Muslim world, but also the context in which

the Qur'anic revelations occurred. For it seems that with many people, both

non-Muslims and Muslims alike, context is the key that they are missing.

 

With this in mind, let us start with the situation as it was in

pre-IslamicArabia with regard to animal sacrifice. Not only did the pagan

Arabs sacrifice to a variety of gods in hopes of attaining protection or

some favor or material gain, but so, too, did the Jews of that day seek to

appease the One True God by blood sacrifice and burnt offerings. Even the

Christian community felt Jesus to be the last sacrifice, the final lamb, so

to speak, in an otherwise valid tradition of animal sacrifice (where one's

sins are absolved by the blood of another).

 

Islam, however, broke away from this longstanding tradition of appeasing an

" angry god " and instead demanded personal sacrifice and submission as the

only way to die before death and reach " *fana’* " or " extinction in Allah. "

The notion of " vicarious atonement of sin " (absolving one's sins through the

blood of another) is nowhere to be found in the Qur'an. Neither is the idea

of gaining favor by offering the life of another to Allah. In Islam, all

that is demanded as a sacrifice is one's personal willingness to submit

one's ego and individual will to Allah.

 

One only has to look at how the Qur'an treats this subject, to see a marked

difference regarding sacrifice and whether or not Allah is appeased by

blood. The Qur'anic account of the sacrifice of Isma`il ultimately speaks

against blood atonement. Allah says: (*Then when (the son) reached (the age

of) (serious) work with him, he said: " Oh my son! I see in vision that I

offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view! " (The son) said: " Oh my

father! Do As thou art commanded: Thou wilt find me, if Allah so wills one

practicing patience and constancy! " So when they had both submitted their

wills (to Allah), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for

sacrifice), We called out to him, " Oh Ibrahim! Thou hast already fulfilled

the vision! " Thus indeed do We reward those who do right. For this was

obviously a trial and We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice.*} (As-Safat

37:102-107)

 

Notice that the Qur'an never says that Allah told Ibrahim to kill

(sacrifice) his son. Though subtle, this is very important, for the moral

lesson is very different from that which appears in the Bible. Here, it

teaches us that Ibrahim had a dream in which he saw himself slaughtering his

son. Ibrahim believed the dream and thought that the dream was from Allah,

but the Qur'an never says that the dream was from Allah. However, in Ibrahim

and Isma`il's willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice—Ibrahim of his son,

Isma`il of his own life—they are able to transcend notions of self and false

attachment to the material realm, thus removing a veil between themselves

and Allah, enabling Allah's mercy to descend upon them as the Spirit of

Truth and illuminate them with divine wisdom (thus preventing a miscarriage

of justice and once and for all correcting the false notion of vicarious

atonement of sin).

 

For, certainly, Allah, the Ever Merciful, Most Compassionate, would never

ask a father to go against His command of " thou shall not kill " and kill his

own son in order to be accepted by Him. For the Qur'an teaches us that Allah

never advocates evil (see Al-A`raaf 7:28 and An-Nahl 16:90) and that only

Satan advocates evil and vice (An-Nur 24:21). The notion that Allah would

want us to do an immoral act runs counter to Allah's justice.

 

As far as the yearly tradition that has followed this event (that is, the

sacrificing of a ram to commemorate Ibrahim and Isma`il's great self

sacrifice), we must understand it and the Qur'anic verses that pertain to

animal sacrifice, in relation to the time and place circumstances under

which these revelations were received and how people were trying to make a

personal sacrifice by sharing their limited means of survival with the

poorer members of their community.

 

That is to say, the underlying implication of Islam's attitude toward ritual

slaughter is not that of blood atonement, or seeking favor with Allah

through another's death, but rather, the act of thanking Allah for one's

sustenance and the personal sacrifice of sharing one's possessions and

valuable food with one's fellow humans. The ritual itself is NOT the

sacrifice. It is merely a method of killing where the individuals kill as

quickly as possible and acknowledge that only Allah has the right to take a

life and that they do so as a humble member of Allah's creation in need of

sustenance just like every other species in Allah's creation.

 

So let us examine some of the appropriate verses in the Qur'an to see what

it has to say about sacrifice and how it related to life in 500 C .E.

Arabia. (Also included is commentary by Yusuf `Ali to show that even someone

who was pro-sacrifice with an understanding of animals as subject to humans,

did not champion wanton cruelty or notions of blood atonement.) Allah says:

(*In them ye have benefits for a term appointed: In the end their place of

sacrifice is near the Ancient House*} (Al-Hajj 22:33)

 

“The word ‘In them’ refers to cattle or animals offered for sacrifice. It is

quite true that they are useful in many ways to humans, e.g., camels in

desert countries are useful as mounts or for carrying burdens or for giving

milk, and so, for horses and oxen; and camels are also good for meat, and

camel's hair can be woven into cloth; goats and sheep also yield milk and

meat, and hair or wool. But if they are used for sacrifice, they become

symbols by which people show that they are willing to give up some of their

own benefits for the sake of satisfying the needs of their poorer brethren. "

(Yusuf `Ali commentary)

 

Allah also says: (*To every people did We appoint rites (of sacrifice) that

they might celebrate the name of Allah over the sustenance He gave them from

animals (fit for food). But your God is One God: Submit then your wills to

Him (In Islam): and give thou the good news to those who humble

themselves*} (Al-Hajj

22:34).

 

“This is the true end of sacrifice, not propitiation of higher powers, for

Allah is One, and He does not delight in flesh and blood, but a symbol of

thanksgiving to Allah by sharing meat with fellow humans. The solemn

pronouncement of Allah's name over the sacrifice is an essential part of the

rite. " (Yusuf `Ali commentary)

 

Allah says further: (*It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches

Allah: it is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to

you, that ye may glorify Allah for His guidance to you: And proclaim the

Good News to all who do right*} (Al-Hajj 22:37).

 

“No one should suppose that meat or blood is acceptable to the One True God.

It was a pagan fancy that Allah could be appeased by blood sacrifice. But

Allah does accept the offering of our hearts, and as a symbol of such offer,

some visible institution is necessary. He has given us power over the brute

creation, and permitted us to eat meat, but only if we pronounce His name at

the solemn act of taking life, for without this solemn invocation, we are

apt to forget the sacredness of life. By this invocation we are reminded

that wanton cruelty is not in our thoughts, but only the need for food … "

(Yusuf `Ali commentary)

 

It is quite clear from the Qur'anic passages above that the issue of animal

sacrifice is in relation to the role animals played in Arabian society at

that place and time (as well as other societies with similar climates and

culture), in that humans are commanded to give thanks to Allah and praise

Allah for the sustenance He has given them and that they should sacrifice

something of value to themselves to demonstrate their appreciation for what

they have been given (which in their case was the very animals on which

their survival was based).

 

Excerpted, with slight modifications, from

http://www.islamveg.com/sacri.html

 

 

 

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 5:43 PM, Nanditha krishna <

drnandithakrishna wrote:

 

>

>

> Bakr-Id is on November 28th. The word bakr means a goat or sheep. Vast

> numbers of sheep, goats and camels are sacrificed all over the world.

> Camels

> are walked for a over thousand kilometres to die a slow, harrowing and

> painful death.

>

> It is a re-enactment of Abraham's slaughter of the ram in lieu of his son.

> When god gave Abraham permission to sacrifice a ram instead of his son, he

> did not ask Abraham to make it an annual ritual. Nor did Abraham do so.

>

> Can something be done to stop it? Please write and sensitize local Muslims

> everywhere. We must stop this cruel practice.

>

> Nanditha Krishna

>

>

[Guest guest]

'Unjust' (Zulm in Urdu) is considered to be the GREATEST sin in ISLAM.

 

I have managed to stop in my own way by NOT taking part in this ritual ever

since I was a child.

 

 

 

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 5:43 PM, Nanditha krishna <

drnandithakrishna wrote:

 

>

>

> Bakr-Id is on November 28th. The word bakr means a goat or sheep. Vast

> numbers of sheep, goats and camels are sacrificed all over the world.

> Camels

> are walked for a over thousand kilometres to die a slow, harrowing and

> painful death.

>

> It is a re-enactment of Abraham's slaughter of the ram in lieu of his son.

> When god gave Abraham permission to sacrifice a ram instead of his son, he

> did not ask Abraham to make it an annual ritual. Nor did Abraham do so.

>

> Can something be done to stop it? Please write and sensitize local Muslims

> everywhere. We must stop this cruel practice.

>

> Nanditha Krishna