Q. I
would be very grateful if you could answer this question which has been bugging
me for quite some time. Why are we required to sacrifice an animal during Eid ul Adha? I understand the story behind the event --
Prophet Ibrahim (a.s) -- and from the readings I have
done, and I also understand that the sacrifice of the animal is so that it can
be consumed as part of the celebration. I know most people donate this to the
poor, but the ethos is actually about the celebration of the event. So if it is
about celebration, why do I need to sacrifice an animal? And in light of
current events, Hajjis who perform
these ancient rites do not actually consume the meat; it is left to be
distributed by the Saudi government. What is now happening is that due to the
problems in transportation, not all of the meat can be shipped and therefore
the remaining carcasses are incinerated. How can this be right? Most Hajjis do
not need meat to celebrate. Why can't we celebrate by donating money instead of
taking the life of an animal which isn't even being consumed? This must be
increasing the burden on the planet. Please advise me. Jazakallah Khair.
A.
There is a vast misconception about the hajj.
It has NOTHING to do with the sacrificial son as is widely believed. It rather
has to do with the COMMEMORATION (not celebration) of that which Abraham was
commanded, since we know in early forms of the Semitic religion, animal
sacrifice was a way of connecting to God. That, however, does not address your
observation. And this is where the institutional perception of religion and
ritual fails. People are so taken with the ritual even though the slaughter is horrendous
to observe. The animals are herded and the lack of proper use and distribution
of the meat is appalling. It would certainly be more in the spirit of Islam to
either pay the cost in charity or arrange for a sacrifice to be done elsewhere
in an impoverished area, i.e., the hajj
is made by the believer, but s/he grants authority to someone or an
organization elsewhere to actually do the sacrifice so that the meat can be
used. We see no problem with this scenario. As noted earlier, however, people
love ritual, even when it becomes meaningless. We feel that it will be
individuals such as yourself, with your thought put into practice, which might
bring about a reexamination of that act of devotion that has morphed into
wanton destruction. And Allah knows best.
Posted
March 20, 2011