Author: M. Asem Ismail Zahi
The history of sacrifice (Qurbani) and its truth
Eid al-Adha is the Eid of sacrifice, sincerity and love. Sacrificing one of his beloved children in the way of Allah was a divine test for Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, which Eid al-Adha is a reminder of.
Islam also demands that Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha every year so that they always keep these divine principles and values in mind and are always ready to make any kind of sacrifice to obey Allah’s orders and obtain Allah’s satisfaction.
The sacrifice of a father named Ibrahim and a son named Ismail, both of whom were great servants of Allah. Ibrahim was commissioned by Allah to sacrifice his beloved son Esmail. When Erahim communicated the divine command to his son, Esmail said: Father! Carry out Allah’s order and you will find me among the patient ones. He was happy that Allah had chosen him. The Holy Qur’an, while telling instructive stories, which is one of the most important educational programs of that divine book, shows examples of high authorities of real people to make mankind understand the purpose of these divine instructions.
The goal is not to sacrifice a child or slaughter a sheep; Rather, the goal is to cultivate pure thoughts, pure hearts and beautiful souls. Allah Almighty says in the Qur’an: “So as soon as Abraham and Ishmael bowed down and Ebrahim laid him on his forehead on the ground, we called out to him, ‘O Ebrahim! Indeed, you confirmed the mission of the world of dreams, and we reward the righteous in this way. Therefore, Eid al-Adha is the day of proof of love and submission. It is the day when a person accepts the nothingness of everything in front of his beloved, sacrifices himself and everything to him and exposes the “worship” that is the result of mysticism, intuition and seeing the beloved.
Today, we must act in a way and pass a kind of test to show love and surrender like Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and Hazrat Ismail (peace be upon him). Today, we must renew the memory of the love and sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him), Hazrat Esmail (peace be upon him) and Hazrat Hajar (peace be upon her). Today, it should be known to what extent our love and faith are connected and to what extent we have achieved obedience and submission.
When Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) succeeded in successive tests and successfully completed it, he attained the position of Imamate. When he presented his sacrifice in Mena, at Yar’s altar, and completely surrendered and was full of love and devotion, his heart was removed from non-friends and disappeared from the beauty and sight of Yar. Here, when he was sacrificing Hazrat Esmail (peace be upon him) with his love, self-sacrifice and surrender, a call came from the Allah: “O Ibrahim, you have passed the test well and now sacrifice the “ransom” that we have sent to you, which before this We didn’t ask you.
Today, we Muslims renew this tradition of Khalil (peace be upon him) by going to the altar and making a sacrifice, and we also put love, submission and worship to the stage of action and test, and during the sacrifice, we hum the words that Hazrat Ibrahim Khalil (peace be upon him) recited while making the sacrifice. If he did, we also chant Khalil Asa and say lovingly: O Allah, accept this sacrifice from us, as you accepted it from Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) Khalil, Musa Kalimullah and Muhammad PBUH. By cutting off the victim’s head, the Muslim cuts off all “selfishness” and airs and closes the eyes of hope and greed from other than him.
The history and philosophy of sacrifice
The word “sacrifice” is derived from “Qurban” on the weight of the Qur’an, and it is said to something that is a means of getting closer to Allah, whether it is a sacrifice, an animal, or other types of charity. Abu Bakr R.H gives a more general meaning and says: “Sacrifice is any good deed with the intention of drawing closer to Allah’s mercy, although in general it is more commonly applied to a slaughtered animal.
This word appears in several places in the Holy Quran and in most cases it means a slaughtered animal. Slaughtering a sacrifice, in order to get closer to Allah, started when Adam, peace be upon him, came to the world and the world became prosperous. For the first time, two sons of Hazrat Adam, peace be upon him, namely “Abel” and “Qabeel” offered sacrifices.
As the Almighty Allah mentioned their event in the Holy Quran, He says: “When each one of them offered a sacrifice”. Ibn Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, narrated this verse from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and says: “Abel offered a ram and Qabeel some wheat, etc.
as a sacrifice, according to the divine order, fire came from the sky, burned Abel’s sacrifice, and Qabil’s sacrifice Leave it alone.” The sign of the acceptance of the sacrifice to the divine court and its non-acceptance in the time of the previous prophets was that a fire came from the sky, burned the accepted sacrifice and left the one that was not acceptable to Allah. At that time, if a booty from Jahad fell into the hands of Muslims, it would also be burned by heavenly fire, and this was a sign of its acceptance.
This is one of the blessings of Allah, which was made lawful for the Ummah of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. One day, the Holy Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, after mentioning the virtues and blessings of Allah upon himself, said: “The booty has been made lawful for me.” At the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, because some people did not accept Islam, they made an excuse and said: One of the signs of the prophecy of the previous prophets was that a fire came from the sky and burned their sacrifices. Therefore, we will never believe in you until such a state does not appear for you. May Almighty Allah forgive them for this unnecessary excuse.
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