October 24, 2012

OBEJCTIONS AGAINST QURBANI

Question Objections are raised by some thinkers against Qurbani on account of economic calculations and they try to present the act of Qurbani as mere wastage of money, resources and livestock. Nevertheless Muslim Ummah performs this act of sacrifice irrespective of its economic, social or political benefits. So, why Muslim Ummah is so keen to perform the act of Qurbani irrespective of its economic, social or political benefits? Answer: First of all lets discuss,

WHY MUSLIM UMMAH IS SO KEEN TO PERFORM THE ACT OF QURBANI

Muslims Ummah is so keen to perform the act of Qurbani or Udhiyyah (In Arabic) or Sacrificial Slaughter / Ritual Slaughter (In English) irrespective of its economic, social or political benefits, because legality and merits of the Qurbani are evidenced by the Quran and the Sunnah. For instance, Allah Almighty says in the Quran, "Turn in prayer to your Lord and sacrifice to Him alone." (Surah al-Kauthar (108):2)
This verse means a Muslim should pray `Eid Al-Adha and then sacrifice his udhiyyah for Allahs sake.

This verse is a command and a command implies obligation. Also, it is repeated in the Sahihayn (i.e. Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim) from Jundub (RA). The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu-alaihi-wa-sallam) said: "Whoever slaughtered his sacrifice before he prays, let him slaughter another one in its place, and whoever did not slaughter a sacrifice, let him do so in the name of Allah." [Sahih Muslim vol. 3, no: 4818-21] and "Whoever can afford to offer a sacrifice but does not do so, let him not approach our place or prayer." [Awnul M'abud Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud by Muhammad Shams al-Haq 'Adhim badi, vol. 8, pp. 3-6] Al-Bara' reported, I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) delivering a khutbah (sermon) saying,
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OBEJCTIONS AGAINST QURBANI

"The first thing to be done on this (Eid Al-Adha) day is to pray; and after returning from the prayer we slaughter our sacrifices (in the name of Allah) and whoever does so, he acted according to our Sunnah." (Al-Bukhari, Al-Jami As-Shahih, hadith no. 5225) Sacrificial Slaughtering is more preferable than donating the money allocated for it, for that is part of Islam's rituals and a mode of seeking Allah's Pleasure. Qurbani is among the great rituals of Islam, which signify the Oneness of Allah, His Blessings, and Bounties. It reminds us the exemplary obedience of our father, Hazrat Ibrahim (alaihi assalam), to His Lord and his great sacrifices to Him. Qurbani encompasses much goodness and blessings and thus acquires a great deal of importance in the lives of Muslims Ummah. This act henceforth became a Prophetic Sunnah followed by Muslims. So to slaughter the animal in the Eid-ul-Adha is better than donating the money, for if all Muslims were to do that, this virtuous tradition will become obsolete. "And for every nation We have appointed religious ceremonies, that they may mention the Name of Allah over the beast of cattle that He has given them for food. And your God is One God, so you must submit to Him Alone (in Islam)" [Surah al-Hajj (22): 34] A sacrificial animal that is slaughtered in worship of Allah on the day of `Eid Al-Adha, is a confirmed Sunnah according to the majority of Muslim jurists. Abu Hanifah and other scholars regard it as obligatory. A Muslim who is financially able to afford it is highly encouraged to offer it to feed the poor, his family and relatives, and his own self. It is recommended that a third of the animal sacrificed be eaten, a third be gifted to relatives and friends, and a third be given as charity. The purpose of this ritual is two-fold: First, it is a memorialization of Hazrat Ibrahims (RA) sacrifice. In other words, by doing so we are challenged to connect with the spirit of sacrifice demonstrated by the great Prophet Hazrat Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him) in our life. Second, it grants us an opportunity to feed the poor and the needy while memorializing the event. Islam insists that in the days of feasting no one should be prevented because of lack of means from participating and partaking in the joyful experience of Eid-ul-Adha. OBJECTIONS ARE RAISED BY SOME THINKERS AGAINST QURBANI Now, lets discuss the economic, social or political benefits of Qurbani and respond against the thinkers who think Qurbani as mere wastage of money, resources and livestock. OBJECTION - QURBANI AS MERE WASTAGE OF MONEY AND RESOURCES Though increasing prices of meat and reduced supply of livestock would decrease the number of sacrificial animals on Eid Al-Adha, Qurbani could better alleviate the suffering of the poor by taking one third of the meat of the slaughtered animals as recommended by the Sunnah.
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October 24, 2012

OBEJCTIONS AGAINST QURBANI

Qurbani, therefore, offers food for the poor and the needy who may be deprived for long if Qurbani is banned or suspended and considered as mere wastage of money. Well-to-do people will have the means to purchase meat irrespective of its high prices or spending huge amount of money. Thus, the poor and the needy would be the main victims if Qurbani is unnecessarily suspended. Muhammad Zidan, Islamic researcher, asserts, It is not allowed to ban udhiyah or Qurbani due to high meat prices. People who are financially unable to purchase udhiyah or Qurbani are Islamically exempted from the ritual.

Another Islamic scholar Mahmoud Isma`il Shell, said, Udhiyah/Qurbani is a confirmed Sunnah for the Muslim who can afford it, in principle, the ritual of udhiyah cannot be suspended due to high prices of meat In addition, people could store some of the Qurbani meat in order to face and overcome the high prices of meat. Jabir reported that Allahs Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) forbade eating of the meat of sacrificed animals beyond three (days), but afterwards said: "Eat, make a provision, and keep it." (Muslim, Sahih, hadith no. 4857) It happened that people faced a scarcity of food during the Prophets lifetime, so he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade people to store the Qurbani. Later on, when that hard time was over, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) allowed people to store some of the Qurbani meat. Salamah ibn Al-Akwa` reported that the Prophet said, "Whoever has slaughtered a sacrifice should not keep anything of its meat after three days." The following year people said, "O Allah's Messenger! Shall we do as we did last year?" He said, Eat and feed (others of it); and store of it for in that (last) year the people were having a hard time and I wanted you to help (the needy). (Al-Bukhari, Al-Jami As-Shahih, hadith no. 5249) Muslim countries which suffer from high prices of livestock may import healthy and low-priced livestock to help people offer the Ritual Sacrifice. Countries that have abundance of the Qurbani meat, such as Saudi Arabia, where pilgrims offer a huge number of sacrificial animals in the Hajj season, should pack such meat and send it to poor countries to be distributed among the needy. Have you ever thought about what happens to the sacrificial meat that gets accumulated during Hajj and its quantity? Hajjis are of course neither interested nor capable of taking care of their stock. Arab News has quoted, "Saudi Press Agency noted that more than 330 charities inside the Kingdom and poor people in 27 countries have so far benefitted from sacrificial meat program."
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OBEJCTIONS AGAINST QURBANI

And this is a norm for people living in Arab countries and other parts of the world to do the same. They do not get indulged in trying to show-off their wealth and describe their status in the society by purchasing Chandi, Sona, Rani and Raja. The basic purpose this sacrifice serves is the remembrance of the great sacrifice demanded by Allah off Hazrat Ibrahim aleh salam and the remembrance of how powerful and loving is our lord. After that it serves the purpose of enabling poor people to enjoy the taste of meat which might remain a scarce commodity for them all year round. Third, it brings the well-off and the not so very well-off people together and decreases the distances between the two classes. OBJECTION - QURBANI AS MERE WASTAGE OF LIVESTOCK Considering the concerns about livestock depletion due to the Muslim Ummahs Qurbani during the Eid-ul-Adha season, this should be scientifically planned and workable solutions should be implemented to solve the problem. Mere doubts or baseless worries do not warrant Qurbani ban. If experts and researchers confirm that a countrys livestock would be destroyed by the normal level of Qurbani in a certain year, then concerned authorities should spare no effort to look for alternatives to help people offer the Sacrificial Slaughter. Importing livestock or specifying some kinds of livestock, which are abundant in number, for the Qurbani may be workable solutions. Likewise, authorities may decidebased on scientific factsthat animals that are younger than a certain age should not be slaughtered to give them time to reproduce for the following year. This way we would neither suspend an important ritual, nor deprive the poor from eating meat, nor destroy the livestock property. However, if all sincere scientific efforts fail to solve the problem, and it is proved beyond any shadow of doubt that the normal level of Qurbani would lead to massive ruining of livestock, then a Muslim ruler or the concerned authorities could temporarily restrict offering Qurbani until the problem is solved. This measure is in-line with the general juristic maxim that reads: Addararu yuzal (harm must be eliminated). This legal maxim is founded on the hadith: "No harm shall be inflicted or reciprocated." (Ibn Majah, Sunan, vol. 2, p. 784) It is established in Shariah that the public interest of the community, which is usually greater and more significant, takes precedence over the interest of individuals. Muhammad Rafat Uthman, professor of Shariah, said in this regard, Udhiyyah is a confirmed Sunnah. It is not permissible, in normal circumstances, to give the ruler the right to restrict or ban it. However, if it is proved that offering udhiyah during `Eid would lead to public harm or go against the public benefit of the community, it could be temporarily suspended.
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OBEJCTIONS AGAINST QURBANI

Islamic scholar Mahmoud Ismail Shell elaborates, If udhiyah will surely lead to a massive harm, a ruler may temporarily suspend it provided that: 1. all scientific and economic means fail to fix the problem and avoid the harm, 2. the harm of udhiyah is proved to be greater than its benefits, 3. the intention should not be to ban a ritual, but to work for the public benefit, and, 4. it is only taken as a temporal measure to avoid a massive harm. Zidan says, Udhiyah should not be suspended except in case of proved massive disaster or harm, or assured widespread illness or flu, he further adds, Suspending udhyah cannot be justified by baseless and unscientific worries. Dr. Monzer Kahf, a renowned expert in the field of Islamic Economy and Finance, affirms, It is permissible to order delay of the udhiyah in case of shortage of livestock and fear of a serious damage to the future of them in a country. This is of course provided experts determine this and find that the only way to avoid a possible disaster is to reduce the big quantity of sacrificial animals in the season of `Eid Al-Adha. Experts may be Muslim or not, but the decision should be taken by Muslim scholars who are qualified to give a Fatwa in this regard."

CONCLUSION Islamic Shariah aims at the welfare and wellbeing of people. This fact is well-established by means of the detailed and general evidence of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Shariahs care about peoples valid benefits is strongly supported by many great scholars in the past and present. For instance, Al-Izz ibn Abd as-Salam says, The entire Shari`ah aims at the welfare of the public, either in securing benefit or avoiding harm. (Al-Izz, Qawaid al-Ahkam fi Masalih al-Anam, vol. 1, p. 12) Given the above, contemporary Muslim scholars should exert due efforts when making ijtihad on novel questions that greatly affect the public interest of people to secure peoples benefits. On the future of Qurbani and livestock property, Muslims Ummah is more concerned than others about preserving the environment and natural resources. Qurbani itself is meant to maintain social solidarity, help the poor, feed the hungry, and cement relations among members of the community. Islamic Shariah provides a mechanism for scholars to work for the welfare and prosperity of humans, animals, and other creatures around the world.

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