Eid-ul-Azha: The Spirit of Sacrifice

Eid-ul-Azha or more popularly Bakri-Eid is celebrated all over the world on the 10th day of the 12th month of Zul-Hijj of the Islamic calendar. While Eid-ul-Azha is associated with sacrifing of animals, it is also closely related to the annual pilgrimage of Hajj by followers of Islam to the holy cities of Mecca & Madina in Saudi Arabia. Eid-ul-Azha also marks an end to the rituals of Hajj and the acceptance of the pilgrimage before Allah. The festival of Eid-ul-Azha is also called as the festival of sacrifice, as millions of cattle’s are sacrificed by Muslims in reminiscence of the act by Prophet Ibrahim.

Prophet Ibrahim was a true believer and follower of Islam, who guided his people to believe in oneness of the Almighty. However he was rebuffed and rebuked by them and was persecuted to be put in fire. However Prophet Ibrahim came out unharmed from the inferno and always obeyed every command which Allah asked him to partake. Prophet Ibrahim always longed for a son but did not wish to distress his wife Sarah. However at her insistence he married another woman named Hajar who gave birth to a son in his grand age. The boy was Prophet Ismail, who was the apple of the eye for his father. However, a few months after his birth, as per Allah’s command, Prophet Ibrahim took Hajar and infant Ismail to the middle of Arabian Desert and left them there with a small quantity of food and water. Hajar did not revolt the act when she came to know that Prophet Ibrahim was only obeying Allah’s command. Left alone, the mother and son had nowhere to go under the scorching sun and when the supplies ran out Hajar became perturbed at the plight of infant Ismail. She would run from the top of hillocks ‘Safa’ and ‘Marwah’ (in the vicinity of present day Kabah in Mecca) to look for water or any caravan passing by to get water for her son. She did this for seven times running from Safa to Marwah and back. This act of hers was praised by Allah and even today Muslims undertaking Hajj have to perform this act of running between the two hillocks of Safa and Marwah to complete one of the rituals known as Sa’ee during Hajj pilgrimage. As she was running across the hillocks Hajar saw that little Ismail was knocking the heels of his tiny legs on the sands of the desert and suddenly a spring of water erupted out of the parched earth and started flowing. Hajar ran to collect the erupting sweet water by making small mounds around the source, but the water started flowing with even greater force. Unable to control it she started shouting “Zam, Zam”, which means “Stop, Stop” in Arabic. And to this day the sweet water is known as ZamZam, which continues to erupt out of the sands of the hot Arabian Desert soil. Every year more than 20 lakh Hajis get the opportunity to drink and use as much ZamZam during the pilgrimage and even carry large quantities of the holy water back, for their friends and relatives in their native place. It is but an astonishing miracle of Allah that one of the sweetest water (People who have tasted vouch for it) has been erupting since time immemorial in the middle of the desert and caters to the millions of people visiting the holy cities and many more millions back home, never ever the spring getting exhausted. Perhaps it was Allah’s will to create a reason for presenting the people of the desert an eternal source of sweet water, and a foundation for the holiest city of Mecca to be laid, by asking Prophet Ibrahim to leave Hajar and Ismail in desert. Because it was after this event that people started settling around Safa and Marwah and the holiest city of Mecca came into existence.

When Ismail grew up to a young boy, he was very handsome, obedient and beloved to his father. It was during this time when Allah tested Prophet Ibrahim one more time, asking him to sacrifice his most precious possession, which was his son Prophet Ismail. The subservient father was devastated but willingly proceeded to carry out the command of his Lord. He asked Ismail to get ready, as they were going to a very special place. Young prophet Ismail (barely 8 year old) was dressed in his very best and accompanied Prophet Ibrahim for the journey to Mount Arafat in Mina. On the way Shaitan tried to delude Ismail by telling him about the true motive of his father, but Prophet Ismail was unperturbed and tried to shoo him away by picking small pebbles on the way and threw at him three times. The act was praised by Allah and to this day Haaji’s have to perform this ritual of stoning of Devil at three sites during the Hajj pilgrimage, enacting young Prophet Ismail. When they reached the place Prophet Ibrahim told the decree of Allah to his son. But instead of fearing, Prophet Ismail respected his father’s decision and asked him to go ahead with the sacrifice assuring Prophet Ibrahim that he will find his son among the most patient during this act. He asked his father to tie a black cloth covering the eyes of both, so that neither of them gets nervous. Prophet Ibrahim did so and lay down his son. As he tried to run the sharp knife over Ismail’s throat, the knife just won’t cut. He tried it many times but to no avail. Annoyed he threw the knife on a nearby stone which was cut into two in a stroke. Prophet Ibrahim picked the knife again and this time the knife did run through the throat and warm blood oozed out on his hands, accompanied with a cry of a sheep. An agonized Prophet Ibrahim immediately removed his blindfold only to find that a healthy sheep had been sacrifice and his son Prophet Ismail stood beside him. He had passed the test and it was Allah, who had through angel Jibraeel, replaced Ismail with a male sheep from the heavens. This is the motive behind Muslims undertaking animal sacrifice on Eid-ul-Azha. This is also a ritual performed as the last acts for the Haaji to successfully complete his pilgrimage.

Muslims all over the world celebrate the festival by getting up early on the day and dressed up in their best clothes they perform the special Namaz of Eid-ul-Azha. After which greetings are exchanged and ‘Qurbani’ takes place. Every earning adult Muslim having enough disposable wealth has to undertake Qurbani on Eid-ul-Azha. If they cannot sacrifice individual animal, they can contribute the money towards mosque or other Islamic organizations or schools, who undertake the task for mass sacrifice. Muslims divide their produce of the sacrificed animal in three parts; one for their own consumption, second part for distributing among neighbors and relatives and the third for the poor. No part of the sacrificed animal is allowed to be sold or exchanged. The skin of the animals is donated to mosques, madarsa’s and schools run for the poor, so that they can sell it to tanneries and use the money for their chores. The tons of meat that is collected in Saudi Arabia and nearby Arab countries, after Eid-ul-Azha is frozen, packed and sent out for distribution to the poor African nations for free; to provide the starved populations a source of nutritious protein rich food. The other parts such as skin, horns and hooves are sold to countries that require it for their industries and the money is again given out as grant to these underdeveloped countries. Eid-ul-Azha is not just a day of mass murder of cattle’s by human beings, but it marks as a day of sacrifice and sharing by Muslims, who buy the best affordable animals appropriate to their earning potential and think of their poor brothers to provide better food for those who cannot afford it.

Eid-ul-Azha exemplifies the charitable instincts of Muslims in their efforts to see that no one is left deprived of the sacrificial blessings. It further embodies the values of discipline and self-denial, and submitting to the will of Allah. It prepares one for the tests and trials of life and hereafter by providing willpower for sacrificing and submission by overcoming their individualistic self for the benefit of the unprivileged. These values imparted by this festival are central to the Islamic doctrines. Eid-ul-Azha is a time of remembrance of the trials of Prophet Ibrahim, a time to celebrate the completion of the Hajj, and a time that men, women, and children of all ages greatly anticipate. Eid Mubarak!