Rethinking Sacrifice

“It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches God: it is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to you, that ye may glorify God for His Guidance to you and proclaim the good news to all who do right”. [22:37]

This Eid, like every year, thousand of animals will be slaughtered. The rationale behind the ritual is apparently the spirit of sacrifice which unfortunately has gone completely haywire over the centuries, so much so that it has become a mockery which laughs at its own grandeur. The festival traces back its origin to Abrahamic tradition where the idea was to sacrifice what is most dear to you, for Abraham: his son Ishmael. Traditionally, monotheists especially Muslims (largely belonging to nomadic and agrarian societies) pet their animals for years and at Eid, sacrifice the one which was dearest to them. This act can be categorized as one of the most humbling human expressions. In this day and age, it is neither possible nor relevant to practice the tradition in the same manner as how previous civilizations have practiced it. Therefore in our times, the concept behind sacrifice becomes greater than the sacrifice itself and is needed to be understood in its complexity.

Sadly, this ritual thatshould be conducted with spiritual zeal has been reduced to a display of shameless pomp and it seems that the essence of sacrifice has either been forgotten or perhaps had never been understood in the first place. What people don’t realize is that only the prayer (Namaz-e-Eid) is obligatory and not the sacrifice itself – more precisely the physical one. Offering an animal in sacrifice is only proposed for those who have the means, yet many people feel forced by societal pressures to do so.

The biggest animal sacrifices in terms of quantity are carried out by two groups: the rich individuals in their home countries or pilgrims (Hajis at the Hajj). It is an established observation for the former group – many of them if not all – it has become a symbol of status. The more the merrier, obviously fatter the better. Sacrifice can only be complete in its entirety when it is carried out with feelings of thankfulness and submission. When you forgo something dear, especially if it’s a big animal, you aren’t supposed to set up a show where whole neighborhood is enjoying the slaughter with claps or hoots and children are exposed to bloodshed. People prefer to keep the best of the meat for themselves and some even buy additional freezers to preserve; no wonder greed has no limits. Deprived people who actually wait for this day throughout the year as they can’t afford the luxury of meat on a daily basis are conferred with bad parts and wished with Meat Mubarak! Besides, there is mass scale wastage in sacrifices at Hajj and also some part of Ummah where countries do not regulate the logistics of sacrifice. Governments or civil society also do not have any system in place where an effective use and distribution of meat can be maintained. Not to say that every sacrifice is carried in such manner but mainly we need to remind ourselves that God likes humility so He also dislikes wastefulness. The issues of sacrifice then have implications on national level and Ummah at large. Not to forget that Islam always talks about the collective to balance and supplement the personal responsibility.

In all this drama, Eid-ul-Adha becomes a mere exoteric ritual with little sense of sacrifice itself or a vision for progress. How would a country progress where the income disparity in the country is so large, where we haven’t invested in sectors like education and health, where we haven’t nurtured our glorious tradition of scholarship in religion? Where we blame everything upon extremists and foreign involvements while assuming no accountability over our own lacking? How many of us are committed to share than accumulate whether its money, skills or knowledge? Is sacrifice really running in our blood?

To understand the essence of sacrifice we not only need to refer back to the history but also reflect upon the context in which the ritual emerged. Prophet Abraham was the one who brought a paradigm shift from paganism to monotheism. Human sacrifice was a major facet of pagan practices where the first child was slaughtered to obtain blessings from the pagan god. Modern scholarship and likes of Karen Armstrong believe that the story of the sacrifice of Abraham highlights that God does not need the flesh of humans and therefore it was replaced with a sheep. Sheep was an alternative – a sign; it was an imperative. It emphasizes on the sanctity of humanity and human life which was ignored by the primitive religions where human sacrifice was a established ritual. Briefly, all you can offer to God is your love and devotion. Later on in the history before Islam, the problem with the Arabs was not limited to Idol worshiping or oneness of God but worshiping their own selves as the most powerful and therefore exploiting the deprived; absence of humility disrespects the principle of Tawheed – the primary principle which Prophet Mohammad then wanted to preach Arabs. Islam’s purpose is not only to enlighten us about the divine but also install ethics of acceptance and sometimes even forgiveness, love and compassion. It also reminds me of a speech that I read where His Highness Aga Khan said, “The shared destiny of the ethos of the Abrahamic tradition that unites Christians, Jews and Muslims is governed by the duty of loving care to help nurture each life that is born to its God-given potential.”

Any ritual has two powers, one is to inspire if the learning reflects back in your daily ethics or else the power of making you immune to blind imitation – whatever power the devotee chooses. In current trying times, we need to revisit our religion and rethink our practice of the whole ritual and notion of sacrifice. Is the expression of sacrifice only limited to slaughtering animals? How does the ritual fit in relation to climate change and other social movements such as veganism for/as social justice? Answers would vary but whatever they maybe, they should be based on proper knowledge and informed action. We also need a different kind of sacrifice working hand in hand with the traditional. In my opinion, putting millions on food, shelter and education is much more needed. Another alternative can be donating blood or pledging your organ donation. Rethinking would need time and effort but the question remains that are we really ready to sacrifice?