Adnan Shafi
First, during Eid-ul-Adha we remember the spirit of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) and how he was willing to sacrifice the person he loved the most because it was Allah’s command which he had to obey no matter what! The duty of sacrifice is performed on the day of Eid-ul-Adha as a remembrance of the example of the greatest obedience of Abraham to God. He intended to sacrifice his beloved son, born after thousands of his prayers and wishes, in the way of God. Sacrifice means trying to get close to Allah, while in Islamic terms it means sacrificing or slaughtering a halal animal in the way of Allah at a certain time with the intention of worship. Sacrifice is not offered before Eid prayers. Hajj pilgrims do not perform these sacrifices in Makkah because they do not have Eid-ul-Adha prayers on them. They are engaged in other rituals of Hajj. Apart from Islam, other religions also have the concept of sacrifice which has the status of worship. Sacrifice is repeatedly mentioned in the book of Judaism and its commandments are so thorough that no other act of worship has so many commandments. Among these sacrifices are the sacrifice of sin, and the sacrifice to attract His mercy. The religion of Christians is based on sacrifice. For them, sacrifice is the real source of salvation. The sacrifice of Eid-ul-Adha certainly rejuvenates the memory of the great event that happened to Hazrat Ibrahim, that is, when he saw his beloved son Hazrat Ismail being slaughtered in a dream, he really agreed to sacrifice him. Our various religious books mention this dream of Abraham which is related to sacrifice. Abraham had this dream for three consecutive nights. The first night, that is, the eighth Dhul-Hijjah, which is called “Yom al-Tarwiyah” in Islamic terms In the dictionary, means “to provide water”, to provide water, since there is no water in Mani and Arafat, water is supplied here by tankers in the morning, on the same date, as witnessed by the pilgrims. In Sahih Bukhari, it is written in the meaning of “Tarweed” “watering”. People used to water their camels on that day. Some linguists have taken “Tarawih” from Kuwait in the sense of “to see”.
Eid-ul-Adha is the celebration of sacrifice, and it is significant for two rationales.
Hazrat Ibrahim also took Tarawih in the sense of seeing because he had a dream. One of his priorities is that on this day, the pilgrims enter ihram after Zuhr prayers and go to Mani and also carry water for the sake of Zadra. Because after the night dream in which thought about its interpretation, the name of this day became “Yom Al-Tarwiyah”. Since this day is also related to the days of Hajj. Abraham had a dream in which he was commanded to sacrifice his dearest thing in Allah’s way. When he woke up in the morning, he thought about what should be sacrificed to achieve. He sacrificed a red camel. The next night the same dream came again. So he did the same thing again. It is clear that the red camel has been very valuable in the land of Hijaz from the very beginning and is used only by a few specific people because it is beyond the purchase price of the common man. The sacrifice that you offered on that second day was “Yom Arafa” which means “to recognize”. On the third night, he had the same dream again and was reminded: O Ibrahim, sacrifice your dearest thing. On this occasion, he inspected his surroundings and when he saw Hazrat Ishmael, he mentioned to his son the dream of three nights which is also mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. Then when the child was old enough to walk with him, he said. My dear son! I see myself sacrificing you in a dream. Now tell me, what is your opinion? The son replied, “Dear father: Obey what has been commanded. Insha’Allah, you will find me among the patient.” So when they both became obedient and he (father and son) fell on his knees. We said: O Ibrahim! Surely you have made your dream come true. This is how We reward the doers of good. In fact, it was an open test. (Surah As-Saaffat, verses 101-106). Accordingly, great sacrifice lamb was sent by the Almighty from heaven through Gabriel, then slaughtered in place of Ishmael, and then the same Sunnah of Abraham as a means of attaining nearness to God until the Day of Judgment and the most preferred act of Eid al-Adha declared. The history of sacrifice is as old as human history but the sacrifice that the Muslim Ummah makes every year is a memorial to Hazrat Ibrahim and Hazrat Ishmael. Hazrat Zaid ibn Arqam narrates that on one occasion the Companions asked, O Prophet! What is sacrifice?” He answered, “It is the sunna of your forefather Ibrahim.” They asked, “What benefit is there for us in it?” He replied, “A reward for every hair on the skin of the sacrificed animal.” They asked, “And for animals with wool?” The Messenger of Allah replied, “A reward for every strand of wool” [Bukhari].
( The author is a content writer and writes regularly for “ Kashmir Horizon” . Views are exclusively his own) [email protected]
