Eid-ul-Azha

Eid-ul-Azha is just round the corner, and no-body can miss that fact, especially in Karachi. The already polluted air of Karachi has now an additional stink of animals in the air. Every now and then, you can hear the sounds of an animal being led on a walk by its owner, accompanied by the screams, yells and shrieks of children who are taking the animal on its walk.

Eid-ul-Azha is one of the two Eids (festivals), that Almighty Allah has blessed Muslims with; the other being Eid-ul-fitr. The history of Eid-ul-Azha goes a long way to the Prophet Ibraheem AS, who was willing to sacrifice even his son, Ismail, on Allah's command. However, God replaced his son with a ram when he was about to slaughter him, making Hazrat Ibraheem slaughter the ram instead of his son. Eid-ul-Azha is celebrated by Muslims every year to remind us of Hazrat Ibraheem's sacrifice, and to make us realize that we should be willing to sacrifice whatever we have for Allah, on his command. Muslims have to sacrifice an animal on Eid-ul-Azha as God has commanded us to do so.

However, the way in which this festival is celebrated in Karachi is quite pathetic. Animals everywhere and their foul stench, spreading germs and diseases all over the place. Poor animals tied to a pitifully small piece of rope by a pole, giving them not even a fraction of the space that they need. And worst of all, on Eid day, the streets flowing with blood and an awful odour in the air. Animal remains carelessly dumped on the road, causing visual pollution as well as spreading germs.

One may argue that since God Almighty has ordered us to make this sacrifice, we must do it, and buying an animal and sacrificing it at home is the best way to do it. You have to sacrifice something that you love, and if you buy an animal and keep it at your house for a few days, you will develop a bond with it, and will ultimately be sacrificing something that you love.

However, this is not the way it should be done. There should be proper place in which animals can be kept and slaughtered on Eid, and their remains discarded off properly. The Holy Prophet PBUH stated that 'Cleanliness is half of faith', and so, people must ensure cleanliness after the qurbani. Keeping the animals tied up on the front porches of people's homes is clearly against the animals' rights. Giving them too much or too little to eat causes the poor animals stomach disorders and other diseases. Taking them on walks by tugging them by the ropes around their necks, and running races with each others’ animals is certainly cruelty towards them. Also, slaughtering an animal in front of another is very painful for the animal who is watching. This practice was also condemned by the Holy Prophet PBUH.

The true essence of qurbani (sacrifice) is in its simplicity and humbleness-something that has long since been forgotten today. These days, you can hear loud conversations over the prices of sacrificial animals available in the market. Nobody hesitates in proudly announcing the price of the animal they bought, not even thinking that this might be show-off. They do not realize that this is not what God wants from us.

God wants us to sacrifice for Him, and only, purely, for Him. Not for showing off, not for spreading germs and diseases, not for competing with others, not for being cruel to animals, and certainly not for being proud and arrogant. He only wants us to humbly sacrifice (an animal) purely for Him, to please Him.