Allah Almighty has bestowed us servants with countless blessings. As stated in the Qur’an, if we were to attempt to count Allah’s blessings we would find it impossible (Nahl 16:18). In return for these blessings our Almighty Creator wants for us to be servants who are worthy of Him and who are grateful. Therefore, the act of slaughtering qurban is one of the means of being grateful towards our Almighty Lord.
The fact that qurban is a provision in Islam is ascertained in the Qur’an, sunnah and ijmah of the ummah (a whole community consensus) and was deemed lawful after the second year of hijrah. After this date, our Prophet slaughtered qurban every year and prescribed those who could afford it to do so as well. When one slaughters a qurban, they exhibit that they submit to the command of Allah and conserve the conscientiousness of being a servant in an active manner. Every time the act of slaughtering a qurban takes place, believers refresh the memory of the triumph of Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ismail with regards to passing the trial with complete submission to Allah Almighty’s commands and with this symbolic act they reflect that they are ready for a similar sort of submission.
Our Prophet would give a khutbah, a sermon, on eid al-adha after leading prayer. He would give advice to Muslims after eid prayer, which women would also attend. Afterwards, everyone would return to their homes and slaughter their qurbans. Aisha (r.a) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "A human does no action from the actions on the day of Nahr more beloved to Allah then spilling blood. On the Day of judgement, it will appear with its horns, and hair, and hooves, and indeed the blood will be accepted by Allah from where it is received before it even falls upon earth, so keep it happy."(Tirmidhi “Adahi” , 1) According to Imran bin Husayn’s narration the Prophet Muhammad (saw) requested for Fatima (r.a) to look at her qurban that was going to be slaughtered, “with the first droplet of blood that spills your past sins will be forgiven” (Ibn Majah, “Adahi”, 3)
As well as being a means of bringing one closer to Allah, qurban also has many benefits in terms of the community. It plays an important role with regards to keeping a sense of brother and sisterhood, cohesiveness and solidarity alive. It especially helps ease the needs of the poor who do not often find the opportunity to buy meat if ever. It allows the rich to taste the pleasure of using their wealth for the sake of Allah. However, the benefit of qurban should not be thought of as only social aid or a type of financial aid. Due to the fact that every type of worship has its own specific characteristic and wisdom for being prescribed, it has been seen as impermissible to put a different type of worship like handing out the money used to purchase a qurban to the poor in its place.
The qurban is not an ordinary animal which is to be slaughtered; it is a gift which is presented in order to become closer to Allah. For this reason, it is not in accordance with good intentions to turn a blind eye to the thousands of animals being slaughtered on a daily basis and make the slaughtering of qurban a point of criticism.
On the other hand, our religion has demanded that the slaughtering of the animal should be conducted by adhering to certain methods and ethics; it has banned the torture and harming of these animals. Like other animals, they have also been given for the benefit of humans. In this respect the production of animals that we make use of in terms of their meat and milk increases. Correspondingly, animals that we do not make use of become extinct. In a way, the possibility of being able to make use of those animals determines whether or not they become extinct. It must not be forgotten that the creator of everything is Almighty Allah and what is owed by human beings is submission to Him.
Come; let us decide this eid to live like the best of humankind, Prophet Muhammad, who said, “He is not a believer who fills his stomach while his neighbour is hungry”. Let us spend our eid with an understanding of Islam’s sense of brotherhood and sisterhood, love and cooperation. Let us look after orphans and the deserted and only slaughter our qurbans for the sake of Allah. With their meat let us soften the hearts of the poor and our neighbours. Let us not forget the tashrik takbirs (Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar, la ilaha illallahu wallahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar wa lillahi’l-Hamd) which are prescribed for us to recite and start in the arafa day (the day before eid – eve of eid) in the Morning Prayer (fajr prayer) until the asr prayer (afternoon prayer) of the fourth day of eid. Let us not forget to make dua (supplication) on these holy days, as duas made on the day of arafa are especially accepted While becoming closer to Allah with qurban let us enjoin hearts with dua.
This article has been written for sonpeygamber.info