قربانی کی حقیقت اور اہمیت

Narrated by Zaid ibn Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him): Some of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked, "O Messenger of Allah! What is the reality and the history of these sacrifices?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: "This is the practice (sunnah) of your (spiritual and ancestral) forefather Ibrahim (upon him be peace) — that is, he was first commanded to do it by Allah, and this is what he used to do; I and my ummah have also been commanded to follow his sunnah and this act of sacrifice." Those Companions asked, "Then what reward is there for us in these sacrifices, O Messenger of Allah?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: "For every single hair of the sacrificial animal, one good deed." They asked, "And is it the same reckoning for wool too, O Messenger of Allah?" (The meaning of this question was: animals such as sheep, fat-tailed sheep, rams and camels do not have hair on their hides like cattle, oxen or goats, but wool — so will the reward for sacrificing these woolly animals also be at the rate of one good deed for each hair?) He (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: "Yes! The reward for the sacrifice of a woolly animal will also be at the same rate and reckoning: for each of its hairs, one good deed."

Sacrifice is the practice of Ibrahim (upon him be peace). Every matter of our master Ibrahim (upon him be peace) was Islam (submission); in reality his very self was so annihilated in Islam that no trace of his own being remained. Allah's dealing with him was most special: the greater and more numerous the trials that came upon him — perhaps more than came upon anyone else — the more, whatever the trial, he instantly bowed his head before it. He remained the very embodiment of "the head is bowed in submission to whatever comes from the Beloved." And why should he not be — this was Allah's chosen one! The greater the trial, the more firm-footed Ibrahim (upon him be peace) appeared: whether it was confronting a king, or being commanded to part from his own father, or the anguishing ordeal of being cast into a raging fire, or the time of leaving his wife and child in a scorching desert, or, in old age, being commanded to slaughter — in fulfilment of Allah's command — the only son he had been granted. In short, at whatever sign came from the court of Allah, he stood ready to carry it out at once.

Allah granted Ibrahim (upon him be peace) a most magnificent honour and made him the leader, guide and vanguard of His beloved and chosen servants until the end of the world; He continued the line of prophethood in his progeny, and finally bestowed upon him from His court, before the highest assembly, the title of "Khalilullah" (the Friend of Allah). His being so exceedingly obedient and steadfast pleased Allah so much that He did not leave these trials and events merely as history, but kept the practical form of most of them alive until the end of time. This ummah has a deep, far-reaching and fundamental connection with Ibrahim (upon him be peace); Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in fact renewed and reformed the very religion of Ibrahim and the Abrahamic community — indeed Allah commanded him to follow the way of Ibrahim. Upon the ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), Allah gave some of these events the rank of obligation (fard), some the rank of necessity (wajib), and some the rank of recommended practice (sunnah), thereby keeping the memory of this great prophet eternally alive.

From this blessed hadith we also learn what a great blessing it is for the believers that a good deed is granted for every hair or every strand of wool. Imagine how many good deeds one will earn for the sacrifice of a single animal — man is incapable of counting them.

The act of sacrifice teaches us that just as a person, acting against his own reason and heart, draws the knife across the animal, so too he should remain ready to slaughter his own self (nafs); therefore, acting against his reason and heart, he should oppose whatever his nafs finds pleasing and here too give proof of sacrifice, and prove that our whole life — Allah willing — will pass according to that same command which lies hidden within this sacrifice: that at any time and in any place, whether it be the sacrifice of time, of life, of wealth, or of anything else, we are ready throughout our lives, to the best of our ability, to make this sacrifice. The single act of sacrifice has given a prescription for living one's whole life: how, by walking upon the commands of Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), one must sacrifice the desires of the nafs.

May Allah, by His grace and generosity, grant us all the ability to observe the sacrifice, following the practice of Ibrahim, and may He accept it.