Alhamdulillah, with the support of our donors, QURBANI meat was distributed amongst hundreds of poor and needy families in the region of Mirpur. Thank you and well done to all the MUSKORTEERS in Mirpur for managing this project successfully.
What is Qurbani?
Qurbani or Udhiya as referred to in Islamic Law is the sacrifice of a livestock animal during Eid al-Adha. In Shariah, Udhiya would refer to the sacrifice of a specific animal, offered by a specific person, on specific days to seek Allah's pleasure and reward. The word qurban appears in the Quran in Sura Al-Ma'ida in reference to animal sacrifice. Other appropriate terms are Dhabihah, Udhiya and Nahar. A fifth term Zabah refers to normal Islamic slaughter outside the days of Udhiyah.
Islam traces the history of Qurbani to the sons of prophet Adam (peace be upon him), Cain (Qaabeel) and Abel (Haabeel). Abel (Haabeel) was the first human being to offer the sacrifice of an animal for Allah. The Quran says in Sura Al-Ma'ida: And narrate unto them (O Muhammad) the true story of the two sons of Adam; when both of them offered sacrifices (in the name of Allah, but the offering of the one was accepted and not the other (Sura Al-Ma'ida: Verse 27). Ibn Kathir narrates that Abel (Haabeel) had offered a sheep whilst his brother Cain (Qaabeel) offered part of the crops of his land. The ordained procedure of Allah was that a fire would descend from the heavens and consume the accepted sacrifice. Accordingly, a fire came down and enveloped the animal slaughtered by Abel (Haabeel) thus accepting the sacrifice of Abel (Haabeel) while Cain's (Qaabeel's) sacrifice was rejected. This led to jealousy on the part of Cain (Qaabeel) resulting in the first human death when he murdered his brother Abel (Haabeel). After much repentance and remorse, Cain (Qaabeel) was granted forgiveness by Allah.
The practice of Qurbani can be traced back to prophet Ibraheem (peace be upon him) who dreamt that Allah ordered him to sacrifice his son Ismail (peace be upon him). Ibraheem (peace be upon him) agreed to follow Allah's command and perform the sacrifice, however, Allah intervened and informed him that his sacrifice had been accepted. From that day onward, every Eid al-Adha once a year Muslims around the world slaughter an animal to commemorate Ibraheem's (peace be upon him) sacrifice and to remind themselves of self-sacrifice in the way of Allah.
Allah says in the Quran: 'It is not their flesh nor their blood that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches him.' (22:37)
The scholars have stated that the philosophy behind ‘Udhiya’ is that it is a demonstration of submission to Allah, complete obedience to Allah’s will or command and sacrificing everything for his pleasure. Ibraheem (peace be upon him) demonstrated this spirit of submission and sacrifice in the best possible manner. When confronted with the challenge of love and allegiance, he chose to submit unconditionally to Allah and suppressed personal desire and love for his family and child.
Qurbani calls for the slaughter of one's innate desires by placing the knife of courage and resistance on hatred, jealousy, pride, greed, animosity, love for the world and other such maladies of the heart.
Significance of Qurbani
Zaid bin Arkam reports that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) asked him: “O Messenger of Allah, what is this sacrifice?” He said: “It is the way of your forefather Ibraheem .” They asked: what (reward) is for us therein?” He replied: “There is a reward for every hair (i.e. the reward for meat and useful parts of the animal’s body will be very lofty on merit, but there will also be a great reward for the parts which are useless and thrown away such as the hair).” They asked: “For the wool, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied: “There is one reward for every strand of wool.” [Ahmad; Ibn Majah]
Prophet Muhammad said: The son of Adam does not do any action on the day of sacrifice which is more pleasing to Allah than the sacrifice of animals; the animal will come on the Day of Resurrection with its hair, horns, and hooves (for reward). The blood certainly reaches Allah before it falls to the ground. So make yourselves purified therewith.(Tirmidhi and Sunan ibn Majah)
Ritual sacrifice
In Islam, the sacrifice of an animal is legal from the morning of the 10th to the sunset of the 12th Dhu l-Hijjah, the 12th lunar month of the Islamic calendar. On these days Muslims all over the world offer Qurbani which means a sacrifice/ slaughter of an animal on specific days for the pleasure of Allah.
