Animal Sacrifice

[searcher]

As part of the rituals of Eid-ul-Adha, millions of poor animals get slaughtered mercilessly all over the Islamic world. I have read all kinds of justification from various Muslim scholars that zabiha is less painful than it actually appears. But it is still not enough to convince me otherwise after seeing this barbaric practice take place on the streets of Karachi as a kid. These sick bastards actually enjoyed watching these defenceless creatures suffer through the most horrific and painful death. As per our faith, Allah loves His creation more than we can ever imagine. Then why would He sanction this practice in the Holy Quran and have the Holy Prophet set a precedence by slaughtering camels during the first Hajj? As per Alwaaz Abuali, Imam SMS also slaughtered a goat on one occasion of Eid-ul-Adha. I am noone to question the Divine but it really bothers me that the Most Merciful, who is beyond all needs, would require such a sacrifice.

[star_munir]

There isn't any need to sacrifice cow, goats and animals to please God. To serve God, we can serve from our wealth, from our body and sharing our knowledge and time.
When we enter in Jamat Khana and say Hai Zinda we get reward equal to giving elephant to God and when we say Qayam Paya we get reward equivalent for giving horse to God as per Ginans.
If you see "India in Transitions" Imam Sultan Mohamed Shah had adivsed Indian muslims not to sacrifice cow...as it was creating big issue at that time.

[pannekoek]

The animal sacrifice was a pre-Islamic custom that was kept in Islam just as the Hajj was a pre-Islamic custom. Often when universal faiths arise they allow some of the old ways to continue during a transitional period. Christainity adopted many aspects of Roman Paganism when it spread thru out the Roman Empire. Buddhism adopted Taoism when it entered China.

Another way of seeing this is that it is part of the Shariah which has been abolished for those who have risen to the batini level and it is a restriction on the wanton level of animal sacrifice that used to go on in pre-Islamic Arabia.

[searcher]

Thanks for your replies.

I already understand that our batini interpretation is above Shariat and thus, no need to offer animal sacrifice. But my question is that why was it required by Allah to begin with? There are quranic references regarding this practice and observing it would be a sign of piety. Now these ignorant fools who can't see past Shariat think that by killing an innocent animal, no matter how much it suffers in the process, is going to bring them closer to Allah. Did Allah not know that this type of a situation might arise? Ofcourse He did, so why would he allow needless suffering of these poor creatures? He's not a blood-thirsty God, so why did he instruct mankind to offer animal sacrifice to please Him? He is free of all needs and thus I'm really bothered by the fact that He lets these animals suffer at the hands of heartless individuals. He is never wrong in His judgement and thus the fault is with my understanding of this whole situation. Just looking for some answers to satisfy myself. I'm also afraid of offending the Almighty by asking all these questions, hope He takes it in good stride, .

[star_munir]

Asking questions is not bad but just want to ask you a simple question if you don't mind. Are you pure vegetarian or Non veg?

[searcher]

Asking questions is not bad but just want to ask you a simple question if you don't mind. Are you pure vegetarian or Non veg?

Oh, don't get me wrong, I do eat meat. My only contention is that if Allah is above any needs, why did he require us to perform sacrifice in the Quran, knowing that it would cause tremendous pain to so many animals.

[Ya_Rab]

“It is not their meat, nor their blood, that reaches God, It is their piety that reaches God" - Qur’an 22:37

[searcher]

“It is not their meat, nor their blood, that reaches God, It is their piety that reaches God" - Qur’an 22:37

Try convincing it to the masses. They immediately point to this ayat and go on about their business, "The animal offerings are among the rites decreed by God for your own good." 22:36

[Ya_Rab]

“It is not their meat, nor their blood, that reaches God, It is their piety that reaches God" - Qur’an 22:37

Try convincing it to the masses. They immediately point to this ayat and go on about their business, "The animal offerings are among the rites decreed by God for your own good." 22:36

And they are a hundred percent right by doing so. This is something that is commaded by God, and God knows that which you do not, so stop this questioning. The animal that is being sacraficed in accordance with God's commads, you could say, is pleased about it because it is serving Him through serving us, which is its only purpose.

[searcher]

“It is not their meat, nor their blood, that reaches God, It is their piety that reaches God" - Qur’an 22:37

Try convincing it to the masses. They immediately point to this ayat and go on about their business, "The animal offerings are among the rites decreed by God for your own good." 22:36

And they are a hundred percent right by doing so. This is something that is commaded by God, and God knows that which you do not, so stop this questioning. The animal that is being sacraficed in accordance with God's commads, you could say, is pleased about it because it is serving Him through serving us, which is its only purpose.

So you are suggesting to me that a camel who is crying of excruciating pain because someone stabbed it in the chest to weaken the poor thing to the point of collapsing so it's throat could be slit is pleased about the entire ordeal? Would hate to see how it would behave if it was displeased.

And please don't tell me what to question and what not to question. Allah commands in the Quran to approach religion through reason and that is exactly what I am doing. I am not challenging His authority, I have no right to do that but I do need to know why He ordered something because a satisfactory answer will only strengthen my faith.

The only thing that makes sense to me is that these animals, by being sacrificed, are paying for their sins from past lives as humans.

[Ya_Rab]

Try convincing it to the masses. They immediately point to this ayat and go on about their business, "The animal offerings are among the rites decreed by God for your own good." 22:36

And they are a hundred percent right by doing so. This is something that is commaded by God, and God knows that which you do not, so stop this questioning. The animal that is being sacraficed in accordance with God's commads, you could say, is pleased about it because it is serving Him through serving us, which is its only purpose.

So you are suggesting to me that a camel who is crying of excruciating pain because someone stabbed it in the chest to weaken the poor thing to the point of collapsing so it's throat could be slit is pleased about the entire ordeal? Would hate to see how it would behave if it was displeased.

And please don't tell me what to question and what not to question. Allah commands in the Quran to approach religion through reason and that is exactly what I am doing. I am not challenging His authority, I have no right to do that but I do need to know why He ordered something because a satisfactory answer will only strengthen my faith.

The only thing that makes sense to me is that these animals, by being sacrificed, are paying for their sins from past lives as humans.

What do you want the animal to do? say thank you and smile at you? Of course it does not understand what is going on, by struggling and pulling its only behaving how it naturally ought to. The meaning that is attached to this sacrafice is only so because the sacrafice is itself a religious prescription, it follows from certain premises of the religious tradition, anything besides that, the animal suffers and is in pain; such examples are many.

If you question the Qur'an then you must also question the Imam as well, its only fair to do so. Everthing that is said by him regarding the practice of the faith should be questioned by you, and known so that satisfaction may be achieved.

Now regarding what you've said about how these animals are sacraficed because of past sinful lives as humans, I simply wont respond to that heretical innovation, unless of course I have no choice but to.

[searcher]

And they are a hundred percent right by doing so. This is something that is commaded by God, and God knows that which you do not, so stop this questioning. The animal that is being sacraficed in accordance with God's commads, you could say, is pleased about it because it is serving Him through serving us, which is its only purpose.

So you are suggesting to me that a camel who is crying of excruciating pain because someone stabbed it in the chest to weaken the poor thing to the point of collapsing so it's throat could be slit is pleased about the entire ordeal? Would hate to see how it would behave if it was displeased.

And please don't tell me what to question and what not to question. Allah commands in the Quran to approach religion through reason and that is exactly what I am doing. I am not challenging His authority, I have no right to do that but I do need to know why He ordered something because a satisfactory answer will only strengthen my faith.

The only thing that makes sense to me is that these animals, by being sacrificed, are paying for their sins from past lives as humans.

What do you want the animal to do? say thank you and smile at you? Of course it does not understand what is going on, by struggling and pulling its only behaving how it naturally ought to. The meaning that is attached to this sacrafice is only so because the sacrafice is itself a religious prescription, it follows from certain premises of the religious tradition, anything besides that, the animal suffers and is in pain; such examples are many.

If you question the Qur'an then you must also question the Imam as well, its only fair to do so. Everthing that is said by him regarding the practice of the faith should be questioned by you, and known so that satisfaction may be achieved.

Now regarding what you've said about how these animals are sacraficed because of past sinful lives as humans, I simply wont respond to that heretical innovation, unless of course I have no choice but to.

There are two types of questions. One is to challenge authority and one is to gain further knowledge. Mine is of the second variety and there's nothing wrong in that. If you think that what I've said about animals suffering because of past sinful lives as humans is heretical then I'm afraid you haven't understood our faith completely. Based on your responses, you seem to lean towards the Shariat and our faith is way above that. Please go study the ginans.

[S.Charania-Gujrat-India]

As part of the rituals of Eid-ul-Adha, millions of poor animals get slaughtered mercilessly all over the Islamic world. I have read all kinds of justification from various Muslim scholars that zabiha is less painful than it actually appears. But it is still not enough to convince me otherwise after seeing this barbaric practice take place on the streets of Karachi as a kid. These sick bastards actually enjoyed watching these defenceless creatures suffer through the most horrific and painful death. As per our faith, Allah loves His creation more than we can ever imagine. Then why would He sanction this practice in the Holy Quran and have the Holy Prophet set a precedence by slaughtering camels during the first Hajj? As per Alwaaz Abuali, Imam SMS also slaughtered a goat on one occasion of Eid-ul-Adha. I am noone to question the Divine but it really bothers me that the Most Merciful, who is beyond all needs, would require such a sacrifice.

Last qurbani festival my friend from Pakistan and myself were standing outside the Jamatkhana located at very bussy street of Gujrat where hundreds of shop keepers/vendors sell diffrent kind of merchandise. My friend from Pakistan was surprised to see that not a single passerby was holding cow or goat or sheep for sacrifice.

In Gujrat majority of residents are from hindu background and we do not see any slaughtering of animals except certain muslim area where goverment keep very strict watch so they do not slaughter cow becasue hindus will start riots.

[asifmomin1]

Dear brothers and sisters,
We should exercise extreme caution to make sure we do not offend other brothers and sisters on this forum and should also not get offended ourself too easily. In my opinion Searchers question is completely valid, matter of fact any question is valid because as Mowla has reiterated, our faith is based on the intellect.
So far the best answer I think was by Searcher himself/herself and we have a ginan to relate to that answer. As Searcher suggested, may be they (sacrificed animals) are paying for their deeds from past life and I can relate that notion to a ginan where pir says
"dosh dayaal ji ko na dijiyee, karmee likhiyaa so hi paave, saahebjee tu moore mann bhaave"
Please forgive me if I offended anyone in anyways, Ya Ali Madad.

[star_munir]

sorry, I had written by mistake that Imam has mentioned not to do cow sacrifice on Eid in book India in transition.

Imam Sultan Mohamed Shah on Dec 31, 1928 at All India All Parties Muslim Conference in Delhi had said about it in following words, "Cow-killing has unfortunately been a perpetual source of bitter feeling between Muslims and Hindus. It is incumbent on us all to find a remedy. It may help us to do this, if we trace the origin of sacrificial rites. We are all agreed that we celebrate the historical sacrifice by Ibrahim. But it must be remembered that Ibrahim, one of our great Prophets, did not sacrifice a cow, nor is the sacrifice of a bovine especially enjoined anywhere. On the contrary, the camel or the sheep is more frequently mentioned in connection with sacrificial rites. How many of our Hajis have sacrificed cows in Arabia, the home of Islam?"

[star_munir]

Some of my views:
According to our beliefs the tafseer of Entire Quran is in Holy Ginans and I don't think there is any Ginan with any verse of command of Sacrificing animals. I haven't seen any Farman of Imam asking us to sacrifice animals.

Now we should look at the background of it. The ceremony was practiced long time back. Islam allows eating meat and in Arabian culture meat is considered as "delecious food" as it is considered in many other cultures. Animals were like important property of people of that time.
To sacrifice animal is to remember the story of Hazrat Abraham who was ready to sacrifice his own son for the will of God. Secondly the meat of animal can be given to poor people who can't have it.
That was the reason that might be for this practice. To share poor people in your happiness. To remember the sacrifice of Abraham. So in Quran also God say that He do not gets the meat that people sacrificed.
The main thing is to understand the essence and significance of the term sacrifice and I remember one verse of famous aarti of hindus...the aarti is Om Jai Jagdeesh hare and the verse says...tan man dhan jo kuch hai sab kuch hai tera swami sab kuch hai tera tera tujh ko arpan kya lage mera.." i.e, whatever I have my body, wealth, mind i.e, Given by you (God) and whatever is yours (my body,mind,wealth) is what I am submiting to you.

[DELETED]

DELETED