According to our religion, good deeds, be it in any form, work as a shield against the difficulties, calamities and problems of life and stand as a wall in front of them and protect us and our family members and loved ones. No doubt, our life is full of difficulties and no one can ever claim to be absolutely satisfied and happy of his life and has no problems at all. In the same way, we face numerous problems. Some of these problems may be those that can be averted or avoided but there are definitely present some of them that cannot be controlled. For example, a few days earlier, I heard of an incident that really saddened me. A poor man, who was the only bread-winner of his family and who was a daily wager, was invited to a wedding ceremony of one of his relatives. Some of his neighbors were also going there. He also got ready and they started walking to the house of the relative as it was close to them. When they were passing by a wall, at once the wall fell down and this poor man became the direct victim of it. The person who was walking beside him sustained minor injuries as he was walking on the opposite side. Anyhow, he was badly injured so he was hurried to a hospital but he lost his life on the way. Such incidents are called ‘Afaat’ in Arabic and Persian and May Allah save all of us of such uncontrollable tragedies. It is said that when we do a deed of kindness (like helping a poor, feeding a hungry person, or distributing things of daily need among the poor and others), such tragedies can be averted or avoided. But problem is this; many of us believe in it but hardly follow this golden rule. Whenever we see such a tragic incident, we decide of doing an act of kindness but soon forget it until the problem knocks our door. In order to avoid this problem, we have been provided with special occasions when we can do an act of kindness and bring more blessings in the lives of others and of course in the lives of our family members and relatives. These include the holy month of Ramazan when people arrange special dinners for the poor or help them by giving them money in the form of Fitr and Zakaat. These points have been described in detail in the articles written in the month of Ramazan so here we would look in detail on the importance of the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha or as we generally say, ‘Eid-e-Qurban’.
Normally, doing an act of kindness individually is not very easy. First, when we see that others are not doing anything, we also don’t get enough encouragement to do it ourselves. Secondly, any such act of kindness can easily make us feel proud of it and thus make this act of goodness as base of an evil. That is why it has been repeatedly emphasized that we should try to do a kindness without showing it to others. There is a saying of our Holy Prophet (PBUH) in this regard that, “Do an act of kindness from your right hand in a way that your left hand should not come to know about it”. But on this blessed occasion of Eid, conditions are absolutely suitable for any such act. First, people try all their best to sacrifice an animal in the name of Allah and earn divine favor and blessings. It has been seen that people who are not having enough money to buy an animal have done this sacrifice by borrowing some money from others. When people see that others are enthusiastically engaged in this act of kindness, they are also motivated by this and thus also try not to remain behind from others. Secondly, sacrifice on the day of Eid is carried out by almost everyone so no one feels proud of his sacrifice and it appears to be as something normal.
Sacrifice on Eid day is a unique occasion to renew our faith on Allah and hail and surrender to the unmatchable qualities of Allah. Some of the Islamic scholars and philosophers have discussed this issue with a different and rather interesting perspective. A question might emerge in our minds that how we can please Allah by slaughtering an animal and it appears to be a bit against the logic. Then they say that it is also a form of complete sublimation to Allah that we do an act just to please Allah and we do it ignoring any kind of logic. It means that we keep Allah dear to any thought, or idea and we show our complete sublimation to the orders and directions of Allah. This is a very important point to be understood as all the religions are based on the system of beliefs.
This tradition of sacrificing animal on the name of Allah stems from the famous story of Prophet Abraham when he saw himself sacrificing his son, Prophet Ismail in his dream. When he saw the same dream for three consecutive nights, he took it as an order from Allah to slaughter his son in the way of Allah. He told his obedient son about his dream and he at once agreed that will of Allah should be preferred to anything even to his life. When Prophet Abraham was about to cut the neck of his son, a lamb was sent from heavens and the sacrifice of the lamb was accepted. When Prophet Abraham dreamed the same dream for three consecutive nights, he took it as an order and then he ignored his love to his son, different questions arising in his mind and devoted himself for fulfilling the will of Allah and this is the only way that we can elevate to the top ranks of spiritual gain and contentment. The word, ‘Qurban’ also means devoting or sacrificing what is dear to you in the name of Allah in order to win the favors and bounties of Allah.
It is of common observation that we feel it very difficult to give away something that is dear to us. At times, when money is collected for a noble cause, people are found to be showing very mean or miser attitudes. It doesn’t mean that people are not having enough rather it is because of the love of wealth and material belongings. In a condition when one feels difficulty in giving one penny to someone, Qurbani requires of us to give away a complete lamb in the way of Allah. This is another way of making corrections in our inner feelings.
There are clear guidelines on how to use or distribute the meat of this sacrificed animal. When we say that the animal was sacrificed in the way of Allah so its meat should also be utilized with the same intention. Its meat is to be distributed among the poor and needy, cherished with relatives and loved ones and a part of it is to be used for one’s own family needs but best are those who prefer the needy and poor on their family members and distribute the major part of it.
In all the good works or deeds, intention is of extreme importance. Whenever we do any good work, we aim to win the will and favors of Allah. While battling our greed and ignoring our selfishness, we sacrifice an animal to win the favor of Allah and get close to the blessings bestowed to us by Allah. But it should not be forgotten that Allah becomes happy of us when we get close to the people around us by being good and helpful to them. When the meat of animal is distributed among the poor and needy and we make them happy, it becomes a source of getting close to Allah.
A person who is having a variety of foods on his table in every meal might never come to know the true worth of these bounties or may not come to realize the true pain of hunger or lack of food. In countries like ours, there are hundred thousands of families that hardly manage to arrange mere bread for their lunch or dinner. Some of them cannot eat meat or other expensive edibles even once in a month. Whenever meat or other delicious thing is cooked, every member especially the children really get excited. But Eid becomes the occasion when these poor families also get enough meat to eat and cherish and faces of children blossom with happiness. Such a unique opportunity of making others happy might not be seen on so many other occasions.
In last few years, we have witnessed efforts to extend the blessings of sacrifice or ‘Qurbani’ to different parts of the world. First, it was aimed to help the poor and needy present in your vicinity or neighborhood. Then the sensitive hearts and souls of the world were shocked by the calamities and problems of the drought-hit nations of Africa and the human sufferings followed by flood in South Asian countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and others and some other parts of the world torn by war or natural disasters. Distribution of meat by Saudi Arabian government and the efforts of Turkish citizens and philanthropists have given a new meaning to the sacrifice and helping others. These sincere people not only not bring their ‘Qurbani’ but they themselves go to the far-flung and remote areas to share the pain and sufferings of their fellow beings.
This tradition has motivated a lot of Muslims in different countries of the world to become the part of this beautiful process of charity and love. Now, even Non-Muslims have started putting their share in this act of ‘Qurbani’ because the helping spirit of this process has impressed them a lot.
As mentioned earlier, meat of ‘Qurban’ is to be distributed among the poor and needy and also to be cherished with the relatives. This has become a very beautiful tradition when the relatives gather at a place, have picnics, prepare delicious foods and barbecue and also invite their neighbors and friends. In countries of Muslim minority, they also invite their Non-Muslim friends and neighbors and thus it has become a very important source of bringing the relatives and friends close to each other.
With these, this blessed occasion brings along a number of other benefits. On the occasion of Eid, millions of animals are sold. Then their hides also boost up the leather industry. With all these, a great boost is given to the economy of the country and works as a fresh blood the body of economy.
However, few things should be taken care of in this regard. Sacrifice is done resisting and crushing your desires and greed. On Eid days, when there is abundance of meat and delicious dishes are being prepared, some people eat too much and cannot control their appetite and thus their health is greatly harmed. It should be taken care of that we should eat balanced meals including not only meat but also vegetables and fruits and eat with proper control so that we should not get ill with over-eating.
Similarly, some people store the best part of the meat and distribute the rest among the poor. It is just like cheating yourself. When ‘Qurbani’ will be done with this intention, it will not be accepted as a sacrifice in the way of Allah and would have no benefit to our spiritual and moral world. Rather, it would make us even greedier. It is also necessary that charity or good work should be done from the best available things and not from something which we don’t like for ourselves. Thus, we should spare good parts of meat for distribution among the poor and needy while the rest can be used at home.
In the same way, some people store major part of the meat and distribute very less of it and again breed their carnal desires. It must be understood that meat of the sacrificed animal is to be used in the three Eid days only and then we should return to our normal routine of eating and not aim to eat the meat of it for the month to follow.
One another problem faced by people is the failure of access of meat of ‘Qurbani’ to the deserving people as fake and undeserving people have greatly increased very recently. These go to different houses, collect a bulk of meat and sell on half price in the market to the butchers. It is necessary that we should look in our surrounding to the poor and needy families and distribute the meat in a proper channel so that the benefits of it should reach to the truly deserving.
In short, this is an occasion of earning the favors of Allah, helping others, strengthening relationships with relatives, friends and neighbors and many more. May Allah bestow us with blessings to put more and more share in this blessed work!