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Philosophy of
animal sacrifice in Hajj
by
Dr Ghayur Ayub
Watching television over the last few days I was amazed how
people presented animals they bought for Eid's sacrificial ceremony. The scene
reminded me of a busy Stock Exchange. The difference was that in SE money
change hands for corporate and individual benefits and here it had religious
intent. There was mark contrast too. The business in SE is ego-less and here
ego was written on the faces of many buyers. For example, one of buyers proudly
presented an imported bull from Middle East for which he paid half a million Rupees.
One could see he was showing off.
I thought to myself there is nothing wrong in doing fair
business. Then why was this business giving me an uncomfortable feeling? So, I
went back in the history of religions to find an answer.
I realized that around 1900 BC something extraordinary happened in
Mesopotamia which brought remarkable changes in working of prophetic religion.
That was the century which gave us a wandering man from Ur of Sumer. He put
five major milestones on theological path of religion.
First, he particularized the notion of one God and brought
rationality in the concept to align mankind in one direction.
Second, he produced a divine scripture as proof of his prophet-hood
and used reasoning in his discourses to bring people into direct contact
with God of 'the unknown world'.
Third, he instituted the notion of a Day of Judgment after death in
order to discipline mankind in this life.
Fourth, he changed human sacrifice to animal sacrifice to give
dignity and respect to humanity.
Finally, he upgraded the status of ordinary man by giving him a
chance to represent God as His prophet and took away religious
custodianship from kings and rulers.
This
wandering man was prophet Abraham, the great-great-great- -grandfather of Moses
(PBUH), Jesus (PBUH) and Mohammed (PBUH). The fundamental pillars he introduced
to theology became the foundation of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Highlighting the philosophical aspect of animal sacrifice introduced by
Abraham (PBUH), Dr Ali Shariyati wrote a remarkable book titled 'Hajj'.
According to him, human sacrifices were prevalent in major global societies of
mankind. Abraham (PBUH) was the major initiator who thoughtfully converted it
into animal sacrifice. Going according to the psyche and norms of society he
made dream as main podium in which God told him to sacrifice his son. The
important point in this exchange was that no reason was given by God and none
was asked by Abraham (PBUH). His reluctance for three days symbolizes human
psychology for taking such a drastic step.
It is pertinent to note at this stage that Abraham was the first prophet
in Mesopotamian religions who introduced nascent philosophy and added it with
theology when he started thinking about the nature of multiple gods. Using that
philosophy he did not find sense in human being sacrificed in religious
ceremonies. Thus he used the most potent tool around which societal psyche
revolved at that time in history-the dream. So he not only highlighted the
notion of one God but also changed human forfeiture to animal sacrifice. He was
successful in both. To prove his point philosophically, at one stage, he put an
ax on the shoulder of the major wooden god after destroying the others and
asked the furious people to put their question to the major god as to who did
it.
At another stage on sacrifice, he killed two birds with one stone. On
one hand, he spared human from unnecessary killing on the name of religion, and
on the other hand, he used animal sacrifice as a tool to uplift the society.
How?.
When Abraham introduced animal sacrifice in religion he wanted to use it
philosophically for the good of humanity. Its not that he wanted human to keep
killing animals just to keep God happy. There were many other ways to make Him
happy. He (PBUH) wanted to purify individual souls by making them promise to
sacrifice something for the good of humanity which ordinarily was difficult to
do. He symbolized it with his son, Ismail.
That 'Ismail' for the Muslims could be anything such as promising that
he/she will not tell a lie in future or will remain honest in business or will
not hurt others, or will remain humble, or will help the needy, so on so forth.
Anything which he/she can remove from or add to his/her habits that otherwise
is extremely difficult to do. It is that 'Ismail' each Muslims has to offer
with sincerity and conviction before he/she sacrifices animal on the name of
God. Abraham's Ismail was replaced with animal. But what about the animals we
offer for sacrifices? Do we have an equivalent symbolic 'Ismail' to offer to
God? After seeing the egoistic faces in the sacrificial market of animals I can
say with confidence we don't.
It is that part which is the actual ingredient of Qurbani (sacrifice)
during the days of Hajj. And it is that part which is missing. As a result, we
have converted worship into a ritual elating our egos by showing how expensive
animals we slaughter on the name of Qurbani. If the real spirit of sacrifice is
put in practice by offering God something humane against each sacrificed
animal, the Muslim societies in a few short years will become symbol of
goodness as each Muslim will start deleting one evil deed or adding one noble
act to his/her personality every time he/she offers sacrifice in Eid. All we
need is a symbolic 'Ismail' to offer against each animal we slaughter.
The end
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