Sunnah e Ibrahimi

Some of the city streets, especially in the olden city interior  are stinking with such a bad foul stench and smell that it is not possible for one to walk through them without covering one’s nose with a hanky.  These streets are literally littered with offals, innards and entrails of the animals that have been sacrificed by the faithful in almost every house there.  Each one of them is now blaming the govt. and the municipal corporation for not doing its duty and clearing the mess.  I say why blame the city govts., they are doing their best but the magnitude of the task is just beyond them to do it all in a day or two. As a matter of fact their janitorial staff works overtime and are not even allowed to proceed on their Eid holidays.  I think it is we who are to be blamed for it all?  It is we who without any consideration what so ever for others or the unhygienic conditions that it will create, simply throw the innards outside our houses open in the streets without bothering the least about what we are doing.  Where is that Safaii - Nisf Eeman which is preached so ardently to us day in and day out? Do we realize that Nisf Eeman could constitute all our Salats, Siam and probably Hajj put together !! This calamity is not a onetime affair but is repeated every year and shall keep itself repeating until we prohibit the indiscriminate slaughtering at each and every place and wherever one wishes to do it.  There should be proper slaughter houses – preferably – outside the city skirts where such sacrifice should be carried out. Incidentally, such a practice would also be in exact accordance with the Sunnah e Ibrahimi.  Remember, he didn’t try to sacrifice his son Hazrat Ismail A.S. at his house but took him far away from his house to do so. So the exact spirit of the Sunnah would be to carry out the sacrifice away from one’s house.

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)