 Print
Qurnbani Slaughter - What is the Fuss?
9-06-2016
Hajj is an annual pilgrimage by Muslims to Islam’s Holiest place to revive the Legacy of Prophet Abraham's symbolic sacrifice of his son.
Every year around the time of Hajj a great uproar is created over slaughtering of animals by Muslims. The history of humankind has been filled with such offerings. Just about every religion has some sort of symbolic sacrificial event embedded in their history or practice.
Animal sacrifices for religious purposes have occurred from the very earliest .times. Abel sacrificed the best of his flock and God accepted his sacrifice and not the “fruit of the ground” offering of his brother Cain.
So why is it that when Muslims, the only Abrahamic faith that truly revives the symbolic sacrifice of Abraham, offering his eldest son on the command of God we have numerous groups coming out in defense of animal rights, tainting the virtue of sacrifice.
According to the website, Fiscal Times, "Americans alone consume one billion pounds of beef at McDonald's in a year – five and a half million head of cattle."
According to one Hindu website, ISKCON Birmingham, who considers a cow to be a sacred animal, Mcdonald's slaughters "25 million cows per year! Or 67,680 cows per day!!"
Yet, when the world's largest fast food provider slaughters millions of animals every day of the year, no animal rights groups raises concerns or objects to the massive slaughtering of animals for profit. Yet, when Muslims once year do the slaughter to revive the symbolic slaughter, a covenant promised by God to Abraham for his offering and distribute the meat to the poor and needy, it is somehow considered inhuman.
We have just discussed one fast food provider. If we were to consider other chains, such as KFC, Wendy's, Burger King, A&W, and many others, the numbers are astounding. Yet, no one seems to be paying attention.
According to the Forbes magazine the top ten meat consumption countries in the world, in order are: Australia, United States, Israel, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, New Zealand, Chile, Canada, and Malaysia. With the exception of Malaysia, the remaining nine highest meat consuming countries are non Muslim nations.
The point we are trying to raise is here, due to socio-economic imbalances in world economy, many of the poor and needy in Muslim nations, this is the only time in a year they get to eat meat by virtue of the rich in the society offering their sacrifice by distributing the meat among the poor and needy. This should be celebrated and highlighted rather than objected or criticized.
Yes we understand that because this is celebrated only once a year, it catches people's attention, but prejudices aside, people need to understand the symbolic meaning behind the sacrifice and how it benefits the poor and needy around the world.
This year alone, nearly two million Muslims offering pilgrimage will also be living the legacy of Abraham, the father of three major religions, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, an animal each on September 12,. That’s nearly two million animals just in one day as part of the ritual of pilgrimage.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a program or project called ADAHI, for the past thirty two years, for the optimal utilization and distribution of meat to the poor and needy around the world, on behalf of the pilgrims. According to their website, isdb.org, "From the inception of the Project, the first priority has always been the full and optimal utilization of sacrificial meat. A second priority has been the utilization of other parts of a carcass that are fit for direct human consumption, such as the heart and the liver."
Sheep carcasses are cut up into quarters while camels and cows are cut up into suitable parts and then distributed through the distribution channels in Mina and Holy Makkah. An amount of sacrificial meat is sent to the Charitable Institution in Holy Makkah, where it is used in preparing meals for pilgrims. Amounts of sacrificial meat are delivered to other Charity organizations in Holy Makkah and Medina as well as other cities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for distribution among the poor and the needy. Excess sacrificial meat is transported, either by land, by sea or by air, to other Muslim countries where it is distributed among the poor and the needy.
Each year, the KSA authorities ship out six hundred thousand and more slaughtered refrigerated animals by pilgrims to more than twenty five poor nations, in Asia, and Africa, from Azerbaijan to Mozambique at their own expense. That in itself is a huge undertaking and must be commended.
The list of countries requesting Saudi ADAHI recipient is growing. For this year's sacrifice, the Saudis will be focusing on assisting Syrians, and Syrian refugees in the refugee camps. For the past several years, Iraq has been the largest recipient of slaughtered animal during Hajj season, twenty thousand each year to be precise.
We ask our readers, especially, our non Muslim readers who are unaware of the Abrahamic roots in Islamic tradition and ritual of offering slaughter to understand not only the symbolic aspect of the offering but also the benefit it offers to the poor and needy around the world, as it truly revives Abraham's legacy of sharing, giving and of compassion.
In the end we would like to congratulate all the Muslims, especially our readers and their families whom have been blessed this year to attend the annual pilgrimage of Hajj. We pray to Allah May Allah make their journey easy, and may Allah accept their prayers and worship and their safe return home.
We would like to wish Eid Mubarak to all our readers, our contributors, our advertisers, and our supporters.
Eid Muabarak to all, may your Eid be a special blessing for you and your loved ones (Aameen)
Footnotes:
|