"Theology is-- or should be-- a species of poetry, which read quickly or encountered in a hubbub of noise makes no sense. You have to open yourself to a poem with a quiet, receptive mind, in the same way you might listen to a difficult piece of music..."
- Karen Armstrong, The Spiral Staircase
Every year, on Eid al Adha, the issue of animal sacrifice stirs up the controversial debates over the nature and purpose of this practice.
This article is an attempt to engage in such ongoing debates. Care has been taken to maintain maximum objectivity, however it is impossible to be objective beyond a point in the matters of faith. There are somethings which we may never be sure of because of lack of historical or scientific evidence.
For Muslims, sacrificing goats, sheep or camels on Eid al Adha all over the world, has become a symbol of their religiosity as well as their identity. Any debate on this issue is a sensitive matter for them. However, not talking about a controversial issue is never a good idea.
Most people view this issue through the lens of the classic "Vegetarianism versus Non-vegetarianism debate". However, as we shall see that this issue goes beyond such conversations.
The Sacrifice of Abraham and Ishmael
People often use the words "sacrifice" and "slaughter" interchangeably in the conversations regarding Eid al Adha. This inability to distinguish between the "philosophy of sacrifice" and the "ritual of slaughter" is, in my opinion, the root of all misunderstandings about the subject. So, let us start from the very origin of this festival.
The Qur'an narrates a story from the life of prophet Abraham. It tells us that Abraham once had a dream, which he believed was a vision from God. In the dream Abraham saw himself sacrificing his own beloved son. The Quran does not mention the name of the son. Abraham had two sons - Ishmael and Isaac. In the Biblical version of the story and according to early Muslim Quranic commentators like at-Tabari, the son in question was Isaac. Later Muslim commentators like al-Razi and Ibn Kathir were in the favour of Ishmael. It is a completely separate discussion.The message is important, not the name of the son. For simplicity, we shall assume that the son was Ishmael while talking about the Muslim perspective.
The Quran tells us that Abraham narrated the dream to Ishmael. "My son, I have seen myself sacrificing you in a dream. What do you think?" Upon hearing the dream, Ishmael replied, "Father, do as you are commanded and, God willing, you will find me steadfast.” (37:102)
In obedience to what he believed was the will of God, Abraham decided to sacrifice his son. The moment he was about to slit the throat of Ishmael, God intervened and saved Ishmael's life.
“‘Abraham! You have fulfilled the dream.’ It is thus indeed that We reward those who do good- that surely was a manifest trial. We ransomed him with a great sacrifice." (Quran 37:104-107)
According to the traditional Muslim account (based on secondary sources, and not the Quran) and the Biblical version (Book of Genesis 22:1-19) God saved Abraham's son by replacing him with a ram (male sheep). To commemorate the spirit of sacrifice of Abraham and Ishmael in obedience to the will of God, every year majority of Muslims all over the world celebrate Eid al Adha (literally meaning “the feast of sacrifice”) by slaughtering a sheep or a goat. They distribute the meat among the poor and among the relatives and friends.
We shall discuss this ritual of sacrifice but before moving forward, three things we must pay attention to :
1. The Quran doesn't explicitly say that the dream of Abraham was from God, or that God demanded the sacrifice of Abraham's son. This subtle fact often goes unnoticed.
2. The Quran states that God interjected and stopped the act of sacrifice of Ishmael.
3. The Quran does not say that God replaced the son with a sheep. Notice the words in the above verse, when the son is ransomed with “a great sacrifice”, not with a sheep or camel or goat. Scholars have deliberated over the meanings of the phrase "great sacrifice". I shall present one interpretation of this “great sacrifice” later in this article.
Was Abraham's dream a command from God? Did God really want Abraham to sacrifice his son?
This is one such question which we may never be able to answer objectively, unless God himself appears today and speaks for himself. Since the Quran doesn't explicitly say that the dream of Abraham was from God, this question was left open to be addressed by various scholars over history. In his work ‘The Bezels of Wisdom’, the famous 12th century mystic and scholar Muhiyiddin Ibn Arabi interprets Abraham's story in an interesting way. To quote Omnia El Shakry, professor of history at the University of California, Davis,
“According to Ibn Arabi, sleep and dreams occur in the plane of the imagination (hadrat al-khayal) and must be subject to interpretation. As Ibn Arabi relates, God said to Abraham: ‘You believed in a vision,’ which Ibn Arabi understands as Abraham’s quintessential error. Ibn Arabi thinks that Abraham errs in taking the dream literally when he should have interpreted it instead.”
On the other hand, most of the orthodox scholars of Islam had agreed upon an idea that "the visions of prophets are (always) true and their actions are (inspired) by the command of God". And therefore they concluded that Abraham's dream had to be truely a command from God. Abraham had unlimited and unwavering faith in God's wisdom. So he went ahead with the plan to sacrifice his son.
However, this raises some questions which were dealt by another great medieval scholar Imam Fakhruddin al-Razi (1150-1210). To describe al Razi’s thoughts on this matter, I would like to quote Isra Yazicioglu, associate professor at Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia.
“if it were entirely clear to Abraham that a prophet’s dream equals to a genuine revelation, why would Abraham think about it after the first night? Why would he consult with his son and proceed only after the son supports his interpretation? And yet if it was a mere dream, then how is it possible that a prophet, who is an exemplary individual for all believers, tries to sacrifice his son based on a mere dream? Razi’s solution is to suggest a combination: perhaps the dream he saw was also confirmed by an additional clear revelation. Razi also raises the question whether it is possible to talk about God as having commanded something, and then, before the command was carried out, having abrogated that command. For Razi, the answer is in the positive: it is quite possible that God first commands the sacrifice of the son, and then abrogates that command by stopping Abraham from doing it.”
This reveals Razi’s theological position that “God may command something without actually wishing that thing to happen”. According to him, the distinction between God’s will and God’s approval is a crucial one.
It is interesting to bring into discussion the Christian perspective of the story. The famous Danish philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), while analysing the Biblical narrative of the Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac, wrote in his work Fear and Trembling, “The story of Abraham contains a teleological suspension of the ethical” (Teleological means “with regards to the end, purpose or goal”). Abraham performed a teleological suspension of the ethical when he decided to kill Isaac because he had faith in God’s wisdom i.e. God will not allow an unethical end (telos). This allowed Abraham to make what seemed to be an unethical decision.
This means that one may commit an act that is unethical, when instructed by God to do so. This is based on the idea that the wisdom of God transcends our concepts of ethics. In simple English, "the teleological suspension of the ethical" means much the same as "the end justifies the means."
I have presented different viewpoints but I make no conclusions here.
The Philosophy of Sacrifice
The Arabic word used for slaughtering animals for sacrifice on Eid al Adha is Qurban or Qurbani. Literally, it means “a way or means of approaching someone” or “nearness”. This word is related to the Hebrew word Korban (plural Korbanot), which occurs in the Hebrew Bible (i.e. Old Testament) in the books of Leviticus, Numbers and Ezekiel. From a religious perspective, Qurbani or Korban refers to a sacrificial offering to God as a way to approach or get near to Him. We learn from the Hebrew Bible that animal sacrifices were offered by Israelites to God for various purposes in the ancient Tabernacle, then in Solomon’s temple and the Second Temple in Jerusalem until its destruction in 70 CE by the Romans. The sacrifice of the Paschal lamb was one of the major sacrifices offered at the Temple on the eve of the Passover holiday. Since the destruction of the Temple, the ritual of the passover sacrifice of the lamb has been discontinued. Jews eat a piece of a special type of bread, now known as afikomen to finish the Passover meal.
Some later Jewish scholars have emphasized that prayer, charity and acts of kindness are better than offering sacrifice, after all the purpose of sacrifice is nothing but to draw ourselves “near to God”.
The traditional Christianity has a different philosophy of sacrifice. Jesus Christ is believed to be born without sin, lived without sin and died without sin, and so his Crucifixion is believed to be the perfect sacrifice. Jesus, therefore, is known as Agnus Dei meaning the “lamb of God”, who chose to sacrifice himself for the atonement for the sins of whole of mankind. Therefore, for Christians no ritual of animal sacrifice is needed after Christ.
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Gospel of John 1:29)
Let us come back to the topic under discussion. For Muslims, Abraham's near-sacrifice of Ishmael was an act of unflinching trust in God. For symbolical commemoration of that act, the yearly animal slaughter on Eid was established as a religious institutionalization of Abraham’s sacrifice, in the context of the seventh century Arabian society.
“We have appointed for you the sacrificial camels as one of the symbols set up by God, in which there is much good for you. So invoke God's name over them as you line them up for slaughter, and when they have fallen down dead, feed yourselves and feed the needy, those who do not ask as well as those who do. We have thus subjected them to you so that you may be grateful.” (Qur’an 22:36)
Most people (including Muslims) have the misconception that the idea of sacrifice on Eid al adha is about "appeasing" an angry god or "gaining some favor" from him by offering the blood of an animal. This is not true. Moreover, the Quranic philosophy of sacrifice is also not based on the idea of "vicarious atonement of sins through blood". On the contrary, the Qur'an puts an end to the idea that God can be appeased by blood sacrifice. The Qur'an specifically and unambiguously states:
"It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches God: it is your piety that reaches Him." (Qur’an 22:37)
The Quranic idea of sacrifice is about:
1. Personal sacrifice and submission to God as the way to "annihilation of the ego" and to attain a higher level of piety and,
2. Sharing the bounty of God with fellow human beings as a way of thanking Him for providing us sustenance.
There is no doubt that the essence of sacrifice is far greater than the external-visible-symbolic institution of animal slaughter.
To quote Shahid Ali Muttaqi, an activist for ethical treatment of animals, "Animals are mentioned in the Qur’an in relation to sacrifice only because in that time, place, and circumstance, animals were the means of survival. Islam offered conditions to regulate life in that time and place, ensuring the best possible treatment for all under those circumstances, while at the same time broadening people’s understanding of life to include a spiritual dimension and a respect for all life as a part of a unified whole. But let us not assume for a minute that we are forever stuck in those circumstances, or that the act of eating meat, or killing an animal is what makes one a Muslim."
I have only discussed the philosophy of sacrifice from the Judeo-Christian-Islamic perspective. I did not discuss the perspectives of other religious traditions on sacrifice to avoid digressing away from the central theme of this article.
Is animal slaughter on Eid al Adha a religious obligation for Muslims?
There is no denying the fact that there are reports which mention that Prophet Muhammad himself performed animal sacrifice on Eid and also advised others to do so. As I mentioned earlier, this ritual developed in the context of seventh century Arabian desert, where slaughtering an animal for food was no big deal.
However, some anecdotes from the Prophet's life suggest that he definitely encouraged showing mercy and compassion towards animals.
In one such anecdote, a man told Prophet Muhammad,
“O Messenger of God, I would have slaughtered a sheep but I had mercy on it.”
The Prophet replied, “If you had mercy on the sheep, then God will have mercy on you twice.”
(Source: Imam al-Bukhari's al-Adab al-Mufrad)
Some of the companions of the Prophet and some Islamic scholars have prioritized charity over slaughtering an animal.
Abd al-Razzaaq narrated in al-Musannaf (8156), that Bilal, one the most trusted and loyal companions of the Prophet Muhammad, once said, "To give the price of the sacrificial animal in charity to an orphan or a debtor is dearer to me than sacrificing it."
One of the contemporary conservative scholars Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen once said,
"If it is a matter of choice between animal sacrifice and paying off debt on behalf of a poor person, then paying off the debt is better, especially if the debtor is a relative." (Majmoo‘ Fataawa wa Rasaa’il Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 13/1496)
This indicates that animal sacrifice is not mandatory in Islam. Not sacrificing animals with the intent of having mercy on them is not only permissible but in fact be considered a good thing. We can also pay the amount of sacrificial animal as charity to the poor or a debtor.
Hussain's martyrdom - the great sacrifice
There is another interpretation of the Quranic story of Ishmael's sacrifice. Some scholars are of the opinion that the ultimate purpose of Ishmael’s sacrifice was fulfilled more than a two thousand years later when Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad was martyred in the land of Karbala by the army of a tyrant caliph called Yazid. So according to this interpretation, when the Quran says “We ransomed the son with the great sacrifice”, it refers to Hussain’s sacrifice as a ransom for Ishmael. What started with Ishmael, had concluded with Hussain.
Even those who may not agree with this interpretation of the Qur'anic verse, have to agree upon the fact that Hussain's sacrifice in the face of oppression and injustice, embodies the true philosophy of sacrifice. The moral lesson is to sacrifice one’s worldly possessions, even one’s life for a noble cause. For some, this is what Islam stands for.
The great poet and philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal once said,
Gharib-o-sāda-o-rangi’n hay dāstān-e-Haram
Nihāyat iski Hussain, ibtida hay Ismāil
The tale of the Holy Shrine, if told, is simple, strange and red in hue,
Its beginning is Ishmael, its epitome is Hussain.
If we are to address the question in the title of this article, the answer for some would be Yes! But not merely by ritually slaughtering an animal on Eid, instead by understanding and practicing the true spirit of sacrifice in real life for a good cause, as practically demonstrated by Hussain in Karbala.
The wine or the wine-cup?
I have chosen to conclude my article with this section because I would like to emphasize that the Islamic practices of daily prayers, fasting in Ramadan, charity, Hajj and animal sacrifice on Eid are external symbols and rituals. They are the metaphors which Muslims use to express their faith to themselves and also to those who understand the language of these metaphors. The religious symbols, metaphors and rituals are like the cups that carry the wine of higher spiritual truths. An empty cup has no value. The wine is more valuable than the cup that carries it.
One can find numerous lengthy lectures and books on the subject of who is a true "Muslim" and what is proper Muslim behavior. I believe that only the words of Prophet Muhammad himself are sufficient to answer this question.
A man asked the Prophet Muhammad, “Which Islam is best?” The Prophet, said, “To feed the hungry and to greet with peace those you know and those you do not know.” (Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 28, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 39)
The Prophet defined a Muslim in the following way, "A Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hands the people are safe, and the believer is the one people trust with their lives and wealth."(Source: Sunan al-Nasā’ī 4995, Grade: Sahih)
At another occasion the Prophet said, "Love for people what you love for yourself and you will be a believer. Behave well with your neighbors and you will be a Muslim."
(Source: Sunan Ibn Mājah 4217, Source: Sahih)
The very purpose of Muhammad's prophethood was character building. He once said, “God has sent me as an apostle so that I may demonstrate perfection of character, refinement of manners and superiority in behavior." (Malik, Mawatta; Ahmed, Musnad and Mishkat al-Masabih)
Sadly, for most Muslims the mere performance of the rituals and the mechanics of those rituals have become important than the spiritual message behind those rituals.
Most muslims do not put so much thought into their minds on the day of Eid al Adha. They simply slaughter an animal to just perform an external ritual without reflecting deep on the story of Abraham. Sometimes such rituals are devoid of any true spirit of sacrifice and no efforts are made for overall spiritual development.
Most cups have no wine these days. Most scabbards have no swords in them. As allama Iqbal once said,
Ishq Ki Taigh-e-Jigardar Uda Li Kis Ne?
Ilm Ke Hath Mein Khali Hai Niyam, Ae Saqi!
Who Snatched Away the Piercing Sword of Love?
Knowledge is Left With an Empty Sheath Alone, O Cupbearer!
