Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) was blessed with a son at eighty-six. Then he was asked to sacrifice that same son. The fundamental purpose is to teach us that when it is an order from Allah, you must sacrifice your most loved thing—without giving it a second thought.
Raqif Makhdoomi
Muslims all around the world are set to perform Qurbani. All those who can afford a sacrificial animal are under an obligation to sacrifice an animal as prescribed by Islam. Most people see this ritual as merely associated with money. No doubt money plays an important role in it, but it is about something far beyond.
Let us go back to where this practice emerged. Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) had no child until the age of eighty-six. Yet he used to pray to Allah to grant him a child. When we look at science, it seems impossible to have a child at this age. When Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) prayed for a child, his wife Hazrat Sarah (RA) would wonder how they could become parents at such an age. But Allah is not bound by any restrictions. At the age of eighty-six, Allah blessed Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) with his first son.
At the time of Ismail’s (AS) birth, Sarah (RA) was unable to bear children, so Ibrahim had married her handmaiden, Hajirah (AS), who became Ismail’s (AS) mother. Later, when Ibrahim was one hundred years old, his second son, Prophet Is’haq (AS), was born to Sarah (AS). A very important thing to note: not only at eighty-six but at the age of one hundred, Allah blessed Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) with a child. This must be a clear understanding for all those waiting for a miracle to happen. When you have a firm belief, anything can happen. But the condition is that your belief should be only and only in Allah—no one else.
When Allah blessed Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) with Hazrat Ismail (AS), he was put to a test. Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) was asked to leave his wife, Hajirah (AS) and his infant son Ismail (AS) in the barren, uninhabited valley of Makkah. At the time, this location was an empty desert with no water or vegetation. He left them with only a small leather bag of dates and a skin of water before returning to Palestine. This faithful act eventually led to the settlement of Makkah and the construction of the Kaaba.
When Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) completed the construction of the Kaaba, he was asked to call people to come for Hajj. Seeing the barren land and no one around, he asked, “Ya Allah, who will hear my call?” Allah replied, “You do it and leave the rest to me.” It is said that the lakhs of people who go to perform Hajj are responding to that same call, and the call shall be answered until the Day of Judgement.
Muslims who go to perform Hajj must run between the mountains of Safa and Marwa—one of the essentials of Hajj. This running is linked to the event when Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) left his son and his wife Hajirah (AS) alone on the order of Allah. She ran between the mountains when they ran out of water. It is from there that the water of Zamzam originated.
Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) had a dream in which he was asked to sacrifice his son Ismail for the sake of Allah. When he woke up in the morning, he went to his son Hazrat Ismail (AS) and told him about the dream. Ismail replied, “If it is from Allah, I am ready.”
It is reported that Shaitan went to Hazrat Hajira (RA) and told her, “Your husband had a dream in which he received a command from Allah to sacrifice Ismail.” To which she replied, “If it is from Allah, I have no problem. I will not stop them.”
We need to pause here and think. A father gets a son after eighty-six years of waiting, and then he is asked to leave that same son in a place where there is no one else but them. What do we grasp from this event? Allah tests to check the level of iman (faith). And these tests are not for those with whom Allah is annoyed, but for those whom Allah loves.
There are many stories associated with the event of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and Hazrat Ismail (AS), but they all lead to the same goal: the trust of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) in Allah. The only thing that Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) had in his mind was how his actions would please Allah and no one else.
When Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) made Ismail lie down and tried to cut his neck, the knife failed to do its job. After many attempts, he threw the knife in anger, and it hit a stone and broke into two. After a brief time, Allah sent an animal and asked Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) to sacrifice it instead.
Is the only purpose of sacrificing an animal to fulfil the ritual requirements? No. The fundamental purpose is to teach us that when it is an order from Allah, you must sacrifice your most loved thing, and that too without giving it a second thought.
As Allah has clearly mentioned in the Holy Quran: if you love your wealth, your hard-earned money, your cultivated lands, your children, your parents, and your wives more than Me, then wait until I send down trouble for you.
It is very important to understand that, as Muslims, we must hold the order of Allah as the most important and beloved thing for us. That is what the sacrifice of animals teaches us.
The writer is a law student and a human rights activist
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