Sacrifice and Brutality to the Animals: A Mess Of Very Fundamental Religious Obligation
20 September 2016
By Saeed Qureshi
I was immensely appalled by the gleeful cruelty and willful sadism exhibited
by the Muslims faithful in slaughtering the animals in order to fulfill one of
the cardinal religious obligations ascribed to Prophet Ibrahim. The poor,
helpless, dumb animal is surrounded by a few sturdy strong muscled
individuals.
They knock the animal down by twisting and pulling his tail, while the others
tie up his legs. Yet the others hold him fast by horns and the rest give the
animal a push to fall down on the ground. The animal is tied down to the earth
by several people while one of them slits its throat and jugular vein with a
saber like knife.
The gory scene gives an impression as if they are dealing with a bloodthirsty
enemy and to avenge on him for the heinous murders that he had committed or
defiled the females of the avenging persons. With bloodshot eyes and with a
definitive resolve as if they to kill the enemy by inflicting on him the
maximum possible torture.
Watching the blood flowing out of the body of the animal is also considered as
part of the sacred ritual and it gives a kind of satisfaction to the person
offering sacrifice in the name of God. No one has the faintest idea how much
pain the helpless animals must be undergoing. Unfortunately, the animals can
neither speak nor have a lawyer to protest or plead against this barbarity.
In modern societies where animal flesh is voraciously consumed and is an
integral part of the food, the animals are not subjected to the agony and
callousness that is shown in the Muslim societies. In Europe and elsewhere the
companies dealing with the bulk supply of meat stun the animal with a gun or
some instrument and then the body is dissected which is not at all painful to
the animals for being unconscious.
When we dig out the history of sacrifice, we know that invariably, the humans
have been offering sacrifice of either animals or the humans. In Greek, Roman,
Egyptian, and Hindu civilizations, the human sacrifice to the deities and
idols has been in vogue from time immemorial. The Aztecs used to pluck the
throbbing heart of their victims and hold it up to the Sun god.
However, the ritual or the religious obligation of sacrifice was first started
by Hazrat Abraham (PBUH), the father of the so known Semitic or Abrahamic
religions as well as the forerunner of islam. Prophet Abraham (in Islam it is
Ibrahim) made a covenant with God that he would slay his own son after he
received the divine commandment to do so.
While he was about to fulfill the divine will, the archangel Gabriel saved the
young lad Ismail (Jews and Christians believe it was Isaac or Ishaq) by
replacing him with a ram at the nick of the moment. Since this legend is
narrated to have happened in the vicinity of Mecca, the Arabs even before the
advent of Islam were observing the tradition of Prophet Abraham by sacrificing
the animals.
Until the advent of prophet Muhammad and bestowal of Prohethood on him, the
people of those times believed in the Old testament(Torah) version that it was
not Ismael but Ishaq who was taken for sacrifice on the command of god. Even
during the time when prophet was not yet given the Prohethood, the people
would simply go around the Khana Kaaba for prayers like in any shrine.
This story goes like this that Ibrahim at the behest of his first wife Sara
expels Hagar(Hajira) and his son Ismael. By raveling a long distance, they
reached the wilderness of Beersheba. The water given to them by Ibrahim
finished and the child started rolling on the ground with the thirst. She cast
the child under a shrub not to see him dying. She wept in sheer desperation.
The angle of god helped them by creating well of water which is now called the
well of Zam Zam. The two hillocks between which Hagar ran seven times for
water are also there. The place where Ibrahim wanted to sacrifice his son is
also near.
Nevertheless, another version is given in Genesis chapter of the Old Testament
that God directed Ibrahim to take his son Isaac for burnt offering upon a
mountain to be pointed out later. Ibrahim reached that place after three days
of journey with his ass and two servants.
When Ibrahim put the wood on the altar and was about to slaughter to be
followed by burning the angel produced a ram caught in the thicket. Thus he
sacrificed ram instead of Isaac. This place was named by Ibrahim JehovahJireh.
Now this place is different from where Hajira(Hagar) and her son Ismail were
about to die because of thirst and where the God's sent angel created well.
One can see the difference in the places of Ismail and Isaac, where they were
to be sacrificed in accordance with the command of god. Ismael went to the
place where the present Khan Kaaba, Safa and Marva hillocks, the places where
Satan tried to dissuade Ibrahim from offering sacrifice are situated.
There is another account in which it is stated that Khana Kaaba was first
built by Adam and later rebuilt by Ibrahim. It is evident that the place of
sacrifice was also near the Khana Kaaba and not which Bible narrates to be
JehovahJireh where Ibrahim took his younger son Ishaq for sacrifice.
In 610 AD or CE when Hazrat Muhammad was chosen by God as his prophet, he
proclaimed Hajj (pilgrimage)as one of the five pillars of the edifice of
Islam. Sacrificing of animals is performed on the day of performance of Hajj
in Mecca in the 12th month of Islamic calendar called Ziljhaj. This obligation
is reminiscent of the sacrifice of Ismail.
I did not find any reference if the people performed Hajj before the advent of
Islam. Although due to water well and an altar or temple, the caravans would
sojourn here, not for religious purpose but to break the journey in the
desert. It might be possible that the well of Zam Zam was always there from
the ancient times and later became stopover for the travelers. When the
episode of Hajira and Ismael happened it was elevated to a sacred place.
The Muslims around the world also follow this obligation along with the other
four obligations. The time difference between prophet Abraham and prophet
Muhammad is 2500 years. It is not known if during this period how the people
performed Hajj or they would believe in Abraham as the prophet of God. This is
however evident that the city of Mecca with its water and old shrine was used
as a stopover for the caravans who traveled along the Red Sea between the
North and South of Saudi Arabian Peninsula.
I am curious to know if God's covenant or conditions to Prophet Abraham to
sacrifice the animals was exclusive to him only or was later ordained and
decreed for everyone. As far, we know the full-blown complexion, clear-cut and
vivid contours, or features of Islam had not been laid out until the
proclamation of Islam by Prophet Muhammad.
Did during the intervening period that comes around to over 2510 years
(between prophet Abraham and prophet Muhammad), the successive generations
perform this ritual of Abrahamic legacy? During these three millenniums, only
Jewish or Christian faiths were practiced.
Coming back to the methods of scarifying the animals, here in America the
Muslims do offer sacrifice of the animals mostly cows, goats and lambs. Yet
the slaughtering is assigned to the professional meat sellers or certified
butchers who buy the animals themselves on the uniformly fixed prices.
These professionals slaughter the animals far away from the city in closely
watched slaughterhouses or abattoirs. The meat in properly cut into pieces,
put in the polythene bags and given to the faithful. All this process is done
in a very neat, clean, and organized manner.
This system or procedure can be practiced in Islamic countries also that
otherwise make a mess of this very fundamental religious obligation. In every
lane and street, park, public place and road the sacrificial animals are
tethered for days on end. There is massive disruption of traffic and
horrendous pollution of air with all kind of pervading fodder, animal
droppings, refuse, and smell.
This unhygienic environment phenomenally aggravates and rather assumes
unbearable fifthly proportions when after the slaughtering the heaps of offal,
intestines, dried blood pools, entrails and other wasted portions of the
slaughtered animals are seen scattered everywhere for days together.
The nauseating stench fills the air that does not go soon. These repugnant
spectacles present a sheer contrast with unislamic societies where the
pristine Islamic ritual is carried out scientifically, so hygienically and in
such an organized manner.
If we refuse to learn salutary and positive lessons and useful models from the
advanced and civically vigilant societies in other spheres such as good
governance, then we should at least follow the systems by which they manage
their municipal affairs and keep the environment clean and pollution-free.
In America, the people are so much conscious of clean environment that they do
not smoke within their houses even at midnight. I am a witness and a part of
this commendable behavior as I live here. They go out of the house and offices
for smoking. This also shows the citizens' respect for the law, which ordains
to smoke within the public places and offices.
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