The Essence of sacrifice (Qurbani)

By Aaqib Shaheen Pulwama

Qurbani means sacrifice. Every year during the Islamic month of Dhul Hijjah, Muslims around the world slaughter an animal – a goat, sheep, cow or camel – to reflect the Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail, for the sake of God.
The purpose of the sacrifice
While it is not possible to fully comprehend the divine knowledge underlying the sacrifice, one can discern some of its purposes:
Sacrifice, from the depths of the soul, expresses one’s gratitude to God for bringing it into existence.
The sacrifice is a revival of the primitive way of Abraham, peace be upon him, peace be upon him, the father of the prophets. The believer sacrifices the sacrifice in remembrance of the epic patience that Abraham and Ishmael, peace be upon them both, summoned from the depths of their supernatural faith in obedience to the commandment and the arduous test. Their faith is from God. We, as believers, offer our sacrifices in memory of two of them, the father and the son, who put life into the person of Ishmael ?-the first son of Abraham in his old age-in submission to God and faith in His Messenger, his Father. 3. Father Abraham in his tragic willingness to sacrifice his beloved son, his Prophet, as a sacrifice in submission to God alone, embodies forever the example of true faith. The believer after him “remembers” this cosmic moment in human history amid one’s self-sacrifice by demonstrating his will to pursue their sacred relics and emphasizing their complete and absolute submission to the One God without warning.
4. The sacrifice is an act of explicit refutation of those who say that it is forbidden for humans to slaughter animals and eat meat because of the pain they cause to animals or because of human claims that God has made certain classes of animals sacred as part of the religion. worship.
5. The sacrifice proves that the most humane way to kill an animal is the slaughter blow that releases blood. The sacrifice is explicit proof that God has subdued the earth to humanity and made it moral for us to take the lives of these particular creatures to satisfy our need as humans. As such, it increases our gratitude to God for His great bounty on us and for raising us above so much of His creation.
How is the sacrifice distinguished in Islamic law?
The majority of scholars are of the view that the sacrifice is a confirmed Sunnah, and it is a definitively recommended action on the path of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. This is the opinion of two of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, Abu Bakr and Omar, may God be pleased with them.
The legal conditions and the confirmed Sunnah
The person who sacrifices, the sacrificer must be a Muslim as the sacrifice is not required of a non-Muslim because the intent of doing it is to make the sacrificer come closer to God in worship, and one must freely submit his will to the will of God before one acts to approach him. From this intent of slaughtering an animal as a gift of free will presented as faith and submission to God in order to “close” to it in worship comes the Arabic word “Qurban”, from which comes the Persian word Qurbani, now also common among English-speaking Muslims indicative of sacrifice.
Must be a resident, not a traveler. The traveler is not obliged to offer the sacrifice because it must be a sacrifice, and accompanying a sacrifice on the journey weighs heavily on a person.
The one who is offering the sacrifice is in a state of financial ease, and the evidence for this is the saying of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, that the sacrifice must be “one who has wealth.”
The sacrificer is an adult of sound mind, and this is a condition for making the sacrifice a Sunnah, and among those who consider it obligatory.