বাংলা 
English 
Qurbani originates from the word Qurban, which means nearness, proximity and devotion. Thus Qurbani means attaining nearness to Allah Ta'ala through offering a sacrifice. The first Qurbani in human history was the sacrifice of Habil and Qabil, the two sons of Hazrat Adam (AS). This story is narrated in verse 27 of Surah Al-Ma'idah.
The event was as follows: "When Hazrat Adam and Hawwa (AS) came to the earth and their offspring began to multiply and their lineage spread, twins — one son and one daughter — were born from every womb. At that time Hazrat Adam (AS) had no children other than these brothers and sisters. Yet a brother and a sister cannot be joined in marriage to one another. Therefore, to meet the need of the moment, Allah Ta'ala issued a special instruction in the law (Shariah) of Adam (AS) to the effect that the twin son and daughter born of the same womb would count as full brothers and sisters to each other, and marriage between them would be forbidden. But for a son born of a later womb, the daughter born of the first womb would not count as a full sister, and marriage between them would be lawful. As it happened, however, Qabil's twin sister was exceedingly beautiful, while Habil's twin sister was ugly and ill-formed. When the time for marriage came, under the rule of the Shariah, Habil's twin (ugly) sister fell to Qabil's share. This made Qabil displeased, and he became Habil's enemy. He insisted that his own twin sister must be given to him in marriage. Hazrat Adam (AS), in accordance with the law of his Shariah, refused Qabil's request. Then, with the aim of removing the discord between Habil and Qabil, Hazrat Adam (AS) said: both of you present your own Qurbani for the sake of Allah; whoever's sacrifice is accepted will take the daughter's hand in marriage. Hazrat Adam (AS) was firmly convinced that the sacrifice of whoever stood on the path of truth would be accepted.
At that time there was a clear sign by which a sacrifice was accepted: a flame would come down from the sky, reduce the sacrifice to ashes and then vanish. A sacrifice which the fire did not consume was regarded as rejected.
Habil used to raise sheep, rams and the like. He sacrificed an excellent ram. Qabil, on the other hand, did farming work; he presented some grain and wheat as his sacrifice. Then, as ordained, a flame descended from the sky, reduced Habil's sacrifice to ashes, and Qabil's sacrifice lay there exactly as it was. This failure only deepened Qabil's sorrow and anger.
He could not restrain himself and openly declared to his brother: I will certainly kill you. Habil, instead of answering anger with anger, uttered a graceful and principled statement;
[Surah Al-Ma'idah, verses 28-31] Translation:
28. (Habil said) If you stretch out your hand against me today to kill me, I will still not stretch out my hand against you to kill you; for I fear Allah, the Lord of all creation.
29. Rather, I wish you would take upon your head alone the burden of my sin and your own sin, and thus become an inhabitant of the Fire; that is the recompense of the wrongdoers.
30. In the end his evil impulse incited him to the murder of his own brother, and at a certain point he did kill him. As a result he became one of the losers.
31. Then Allah Ta'ala sent a crow to that place. The crow came before the killer and began to scratch the ground — its purpose being to show him how he might hide his brother's corpse. Seeing this, he began to say to himself: Alas, I have become even worse than this crow; I could not even conceal my brother's body. Then he truly and sincerely repented.
Through this, his sympathy and goodwill toward Qabil shone forth. Habil had said:
Allah accepts only the deeds of the God-fearing and pious. So if you had adopted piety, your sacrifice too would have been accepted. You did not do so, and therefore your sacrifice was rejected. Where is my fault in this…?
Habil, the offerer of the sacrifice, with single-minded earnestness of heart presented a most beautiful ram as his Qurbani, seeking nearness to Allah and His pleasure, and his sacrifice was accepted. Qabil, on the other hand, in a distracted state of mind presented some food-grain as a sacrifice, and his sacrifice was not accepted. Thus it was proven that a sacrifice is not accepted without single-minded earnestness of heart.
The ordinance of Qurbani existed in every age:
In truth the history of Qurbani is as ancient as any religion or the history of mankind itself. Every Shariah that Allah sent down for mankind contained the ordinance of offering Qurbani. It was an indispensable part of the worship of every community (ummah). Allah Ta'ala says: "And for every community We have appointed a rite of sacrifice, so that they may pronounce the name of Allah over the cattle He has provided for them." (Surah Al-Hajj: 34)
Within the history of Qurbani, the event that unfolded between Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and his son Hazrat Ismail (AS) stands as a great and memorable history. This history is discussed in verses 100-108 of Surah As-Saffat of the Noble Quran; the verses are quoted below.
O my Lord! Grant me a righteous son. Then, when the boy reached the age to work alongside his father, Ibrahim (AS) said: O my dear son! I see in a dream that I am sacrificing you; now tell me what you think. He replied: O my father! Do as you are commanded; if Allah wills, you will find me among the patient. When the two of them submitted, and he (Ibrahim) laid him (his son) down face first (to sacrifice him), We called out to him: O Ibrahim! You have indeed fulfilled the vision. Thus do We reward the doers of good. That was indeed a manifest trial. And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice. And We left this (his example) as a remembrance for later generations.
In truth, Qurbani is such a resolve, such firm faith, self-surrender and outward expression of the readiness to lay down one's life, that everything a person possesses belongs to Allah and is to be devoted to His path. It is also a sign of the truth that, at a hint from Allah, a servant does not hesitate to give his own blood. Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) proved precisely that. In essence, this self-surrender and the offering of one's life is what is called Iman, Islam and Ihsan.
The command of Qurbani upon the Ummah of Muhammad (upon us):
Almighty Allah says: Therefore pray to your Lord and sacrifice. (Surah Al-Kawthar: 2) This Qurbani must be offered purely for the pleasure of Allah Ta'ala. Indeed, the purpose of every physical act of worship or obedience, and of every act of worship involving financial sacrifice, must be for Allah alone; the pleasure of anyone else, in His place or alongside Him, can never be the aim. This is the command of Allah Ta'ala. Allah says: O Prophet! Say, my prayer, my sacrifice, my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds; He has no partner. With this command I have been charged, and I am the first of those who submit. (Surah Al-An'am: 162-63)
This Qurbani is not only for a single moment of one's life; rather it must be offered every year, and this is well established from the practice of the Prophet (SAW) himself. It is narrated from Hazrat Umar (RA): the Messenger of Allah (SAW) stayed in Madinah for ten years and offered the sacrifice every year. (Tirmidhi)
May Allah grant us all the ability and strength to offer a true Qurbani.
What kinds of animals may be sacrificed:
Besides the animals shown in the picture, every four-legged animal made lawful for human food may also be sacrificed.
It is narrated from Ubayd ibn Fayruz (RA): he said, I asked Al-Bara' ibn Azib (RA), what kind of animal may not be used for Qurbani? He said:
The Messenger of Allah (SAW) stood up among us; my fingers are smaller and slighter than his, and the joints of my fingers are smaller and slighter than his joints. (This was said by way of honour.)
Pointing with his fingers, he said:
Four kinds of defective animals may not be sacrificed: the blind one whose blindness is evident; the sick one whose sickness is evident; the lame one whose lameness is evident; and the old and weak one whose bone marrow is gone (dried up);
It is narrated from Ali (RA):
He said: The Messenger of Allah (SAW) commanded us to examine the eyes and ears of the sacrificial animal carefully, and forbade us to sacrifice an animal that is one-eared or blind,
one whose ear is cut off at the front or the back; one whose ear is torn sideways or pierced with a round hole.
It is narrated from Ali (RA), who said:
The Messenger of Allah (SAW) forbade sacrificing animals with cut ears or broken horns.
Should we eat the meat of animals?
For those who say that eating animal meat is inhuman, the picture below is presented.
- Picture number one is the tooth of a tiger, which is a carnivore.
- Picture number two is the tooth of a human being.
- Picture number three is the tooth of a cow, which is a herbivore.
Now judge for yourselves: of the teeth in pictures 1 and 3, whose tooth matches that of a human being (picture number 2)? Look at the round, marked teeth in pictures 1 and 2 — such teeth are found only in carnivorous animals. And look at picture number 3: the cow has no teeth of this kind, which is why it is a herbivore.
So how can we say that a human being, who cannot live on grass and leaves alone, must not eat the meat of lawful (halal) animals?
This post is not meant to make anyone look small or big; I have merely tried to point out the reality of the events left behind in the history of Islam.
Let us all, like this child, pray to Almighty Allah, so that Muslims, new Muslims and non-Muslims together may build a beautiful world.
