Submitted to: Dr. Fareeha ZafferSubmitted by: Iram Rashid

shah The Sacrifice of Animals on Eid-ul-Adha

[ ] October 9, 2014

Table of ContentsIntroduction.................................................................................................................................................1

Objective Statement................................................................................................................................1

Literature Review........................................................................................................................................1

Survey Instrument.......................................................................................................................................3

The Questionnaire.......................................................................................................................................3

Analysis........................................................................................................................................................5

Tables and Graphs...................................................................................................................................5

Gender.................................................................................................................................................5

Age.......................................................................................................................................................5

Income range.......................................................................................................................................6

Importance of Religious Rituals like Eid-Ul-Fitr and Eid-Ul-Adha.........................................................6

Cattles purchased by the respondents................................................................................................7

Reason for purchasing one or more than one cattle...........................................................................7

Do the respondents agree that no. of cattle matter?..........................................................................8

Do the respondents agree that physical appearance of cattle matter?...............................................8

Reason for giving importance to physical importance.........................................................................9

Likeness to share photos of cattle on social media..............................................................................9

Concern about the feed of cattle in terms of 'Halal' and 'Haram'........................................................9

Fair Distribution of meat among deserving people in society...........................................................10

Findings.....................................................................................................................................................10

Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................12

References.................................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction

This report is about the sacrifice of animals on Eid-ul-Adha. Eid-Ul-Adha is an Islamic festival

to commemorate the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to follow Allah's command to sacrifice his

son Prophet Ismael. Muslim’s around the world perform this duty on the next day of Haj (islam-

watch.org, 2012).

Objective Statement

The purpose of this study is to analyze if Muslims perform this scared ritual as a religious duty or

a s a social responsibility or social pressure as in elite class the purchasing an expensive animal

for this purpose become a status symbol now.

Literature Review

Sacrificing an animal means to sacrifice an animal out of the goods that Allah gave in order to

approach Him and attain his pleasure and consent.

Allah does not need sacrifice, nor does he need all of the other worship performed by man.

However, with the command of sacrifice, Allah tests His slaves, measures their devotion and

their attention to that Divine decree and their closeness to Him. The following is expressed in the

Qur’an, Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage) verse 37 (wordpress, 2012):

“It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah: it is your piety that reaches

Him.” (22/37).

So, it is understood that the real aim of sacrificing an animal is to fulfill the order of Allah and

show that one fears Allah. It means we can sacrifice even our most valuable things if Allah asks

us. In a sense, sacrifice means we can get rid of the feeling of loving worldly possessions and

sacrifice everything for the sake of Allah.

The real purpose of qurban is to attain Allah's consent and to wish to approach Him. A person

who sacrifices an animal approaches Allah and attains His consent through it. Sacrifice is also an

example of social assistance. The religion of Islam aims to make the individual attain spiritual

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wisdom and human virtues; meanwhile, it introduces some unifying and integrating commands

and practices for the community.

“To every people did We appoint rites (of sacrifice), that they might celebrate the name of

Allah over the sustenance He gave them from animals But your God is One God, submit

then your wills to Him and give you the good news to those who humble themselves [The

Pilgrimage (Al-Hajj) (22:34)].” In this verse, it is expressed that Allah Almighty commanded

that decree in order to remind His slaves that He is the owner of all animals and that He offered

them to human beings as an indication of His mercy and grace (ISLAM, Joseph A, 2012).

Sacrifice is also an opportunity to remind the salvation of Prophet Ishmael (peace and blessings

be upon him) as a favor of Allah from being sacrificed. Allah, the Most High, tested Prophet

Ibraham and wanted him to sacrifice his only son, Ishmael. Both Hazrat Ibraham and his son

Hazrat Ishmael (peace be upon them) complied with that will sincerely. Hazrat Abraham laid

down his son and started to slaughter him in the throat. However, the knife did not cut Hazrat

Ishmael (PBUH). It was because the intention of Allah, the Most high, was not Hazrat Ishmael’s

being slaughtered but to show and inform angels and people who will come till the end of time

about those two noble prophets’ inaccessible submission and obedience, devotion and

generosity. Because that wisdom occurred, Allah Almighty had commanded the knife not to cut

Hazrat Ishmael. Instead of Hazrat Ishmael, He had sent down a ram to them from Paradise to be

sacrificed. So sacrificing is a commemoration of that great and exemplary event.

Every year, thousands of animals are sacrificed by Muslims. It is, in a sense, a symbolic

expression that a Muslim can sacrifice anything he has in order to worship Allah, comply with

His command and give up anything he has for His sake.

The decree of sacrificing imposed by Islam is also a great bounty and mercy upon people. Poor

people, who have had difficulties and have not been able to eat meat for one year may have an

opportunity to get a lot of meat to eat with the occasion of Eid-Ul-Adha.

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Survey Instrument

The instrument used to conduct this analysis is a questionnaire consisting of 9 questions. The

questionnaire was sent to 14 people out of whom 10 responded immediately. The questionnaire

was designed by keeping in view the emerging issues related to the sacrifice of animal on Eid-

UL- Adha. For example, people are getting inclined to purchase imported animals for the

purpose of sacrifice regardless of the feed they are given before their import to the Muslim

country, so a question was included in the questionnaire about this issue as well. But the main

focus of the questionnaire was to know if people are really performing this duty on the bases of

religious association or if it’s just a social responsibility.

The Questionnaire

Survey Questionnaire

Gender

Age

1. Kindly specify your Income range:

a) 10,000 to 25,000

b) 25,000 to 50,000

c) 50,000 to 75,000

d) More than 75,000

2. Kindly rate in terms of importance of religious rituals like Eid-ul- Adha & Eid-ul-Fitr

Very

Important

Important Neutral Unimportant Very

Unimportant

5 4 3 3 1

3. What did you purchased for the purpose of performing this religious duty, kindly specify the number of

each in the blanks

a) Goat

b) Cow

c) Camel

d) Portion in combined Qurbani

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4. If the number of cattle is one or more, kindly specify the reason

a) Social pressure

b) Distribution of more meat among poor

c) Deserving people’s expectations

d) Status Symbol

e) Religious responsibility

5. Do you agree that number of cattle matter for the purpose of Qurbani?

Strongly

Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Disagree

5 4 3 3 1

6. Do you agree that the physical appearance of the cattle matter?

Strongly

Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Disagree

5 4 3 3 1

7. If yes, kindly specify the reason

a) People’s expectations according to my financial status

b) I want to perform this duty well

8. Do you like to share the photos of your cattle on social media?

a) Yes

b) No

9. Are you conscious about the feed of the cattle you purchase in term of ‘halal’ or “haram”?

a) Yes

b) No

10. Do you think the distribution of meat is fair for the deserving people in our society, in terms of availability

of meat to them during rest of the year?

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a) Yes

b) No

Comments

Analysis

Tables and Graphs

Gender

Male 6

Female 4

10

01234567

Male

Female

Age

25 -35 5

35- 45 2

45 – 55 1

more than 55 2

10

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Income range

10,000 - 25,000

25,000 - 50,000

50,000 -75,000 2

above 75,000 8

10

0123456789

10,000 - 25,00025,000 - 50,00050,000 -7 5,000above 75,000

Importance of Religious Rituals like Eid-Ul-Fitr and Eid-Ul-Adha

Very Important 8

Important 1

Neutral 1

Un Important

Very Unimportant

10

0

2

4

6

8

10 Very Important

Important

Neutral

Un Important

Very Unimportant

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0

1

2

3

4

5

6

25 -3535- 4545 - 55more than 55

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Cattles purchased by the respondents

Goat 1 1 1 2 1 1 8

Cow 1 1 2

Both Goat and Cow 1 1 1 1 4

Camel

Portion in Combined Qurbani

 

1

14

0123456789 Goat

Cow

Both Goat and Cow

Camel

Portion in Combined Qurbani

Reason for purchasing one or more than one cattle

Social Pressure

Deserving People's

Expectations 1 1

Status Symbol

Distribution of more meat 1 1 1 1 1 5

Religious Responsibility 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7

13

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012345678

Social Pressure

Deserving People's Expectations

Status Symbol

Distribution of more meat

Religious Resposibility

Do the respondents agree that no. of cattle matter?

Strongly Agree

Agree 1

Neutral 1

Disagree 7

Strongly Disagree 1

10

012345678

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Do the respondents agree that physical appearance of cattle matter?

Yes 10

No 0

10

02468

1012

Yes No

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Reason for giving importance to physical importance

People's Expectations 2

Better Performance of the

duty 8

10

0

2

4

6

8

10

People's Expecta-tions

Better Performance of the duty

Likeness to share photos of cattle on social media

Yes 0

No 10

10

02468

1012

Yes No

Concern about the feed of cattle in terms of 'Halal' and 'Haram'

Yes 9

No 1

10

0

2

4

6

8

10

Yes No

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Fair Distribution of meat among deserving people in society

Yes 2

No 8

10

0

2

4

6

8

10

Yes No

Findings

While designing the questionnaire, some general questions were included which can contribute

in the evaluation of results, for instance the purpose of mentioning the gender of the respondent

is that females usually are more concerned about the values and qualitative factors as compared

to males who focus on traditions and quantitative aspects. Similarly younger people have

different approach to think about these rituals as compares to old generation who consider the

sacrifice of animals as a more sacred, religious and very important ritual. The income range

gives us the idea about the purchasing power of the respondents which helped later in the

evaluation of results. The comments section gave the respondents to give their opinion in detail,

which is included here in the findings part.

In the following section we will discuss responses of the people one by one:

9 out of 10 people responded that these rituals are very important , one who replied as neutral,

mentioned in the comments section that it’s a controversial discussion as helping the deserving

people through other means can might be more beneficial, but as it is our religious ritual we can’t

give our opinion on it.

Out of 10, 4 people purchased both cow and goat, 1 purchased a goat and contributed in

combined Qurbani as well, 4 people purchased one cattle (either goat or a cow). Those who

purchased 1 stated the reason for this is to perform the religious duty, but those who purchased

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more than one gave multiple reasons like religious responsibility as well as distribution of more

meat. One of the respondents from the age group of above 55, who purchased both goat and cow,

explained in the comments section that the reason of purchasing both is that she can distribute

the meat of cow in poor and that of goat to the relative according to their expectations. Another

person from the same age group responded as it’s because of deserving people’s expectations as

well as distribution of more meat.

8 out of 10 people disagree with the statement that number of cattle matters for the purpose of

Qurbani.

All the respondents believe that physical appearance of the cattle is important, as they want to

perform this duty well. 1 of them stated that physical appearance is important as people around

him expect it from him because of his financial condition.

Almost all of the respondents in this survey responded as the feed of the cattle matters in terms

of “Halal” and “Haram”, the one who responded as no, said that he never think so deeply about

it.

Only 2 people responded that they think that the distribution of meat is fair in terms of the people

who can’t afford it in rest of the year, most of them stated as they are not sure, as they don’t

know about the exact financial condition of those who collect meat from their doors.

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Conclusion

From the survey it can be concluded that though people consider Eid-Ul-Adha as a religious

ritual and respect this festival to a great extent, but consciously or unconsciously they also keep

in mind their standing among the social class and what people expect from them. So, we can say

that it’s more like a social responsibility. In elite class this ritual is also becoming a kind of status

symbol. But as the respondents selected for this survey were from different backgrounds, and

mostly salaried person, for them it’s a religious responsibility and because they want to perform

this duty well, they are concerned about the number of cattle and their physical appearance and

other attributes.

There are certain limitations associated with the survey, for example the responses of the people

are based on their own opinions and what they perceive about this religious ritual.

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References

ISLAM, Joseph A. 2012. quransmessage. SLAUGHTERING OF ANIMALS - THE CORRECT METHOD OF

SACRIFICE. 8.

islam-watch.org. 2012. [online]. [Accessed 10 october 2014]. Available from World Wide Web:

<http://www.islam-watch.org/home/110-brokaan/1181-blood-sacrifice-in-name-of-allah.html>

wordpress. 2012. [online]. Available from World Wide Web:

<http://makashfa.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/sacrificial-animals-mentioned-in-these-verses-of-the-

holy-quran/>

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