Hajj is a unique religious duty that combines different types of worships in it. People…
The Udh’hiya and Aqiqa
Sacrifice is one of the important parts of the Hajj. Muslims all around the world offer sacrifice on 10th of Dhulhajj after eid prayers. Hajj pilgrims also offer sacrifice in Makkah on 10th of Dhulhajj. Sacrificing animal to please Allah is a centuries’ old Islamic ritual held every year. This worship is in commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim’s act of offering his son as sacrifice in submission to Allah.
Allah does not need flesh and blood of the animals sacrificed. In fact, Allah knows the intentions of the hearts and rewards the people on the purity and piousness of the souls. Allah ordered the Muslims to offer sacrifice every year because His pious and obedient prophet did so. This act of submission and obedience pleased Allah Almighty so much that He gave it eternal appreciation by making it a binding for all the followers of Islam. Wherever there are followers of Islam in the world, they will continue this tradition till the end of the world.
Allah does not need flesh and blood of the animals sacrificed
Aqiqah is also a sacrifice Muslims offer on the birth of a new baby in their families. It is performed on the seventh day after the baby is born. Two sheep or goats are offered as sacrifice on the birth of a boy and one sheep or goat is offered for a girl.
There are some instructions about choosing or buying the animal for sacrifice. Animal should be fit and healthy and should not have any disease. Animals such as camel, cow, sheep and goat can be offered as sacrifice. There are seven parts of sacrifice in camel and cow, meaning that seven persons can share a camel or cow for sacrifice.
There are some points to be kept in mind before selecting animal for sacrifice. If it is a camel, it must be five years old. If it is a cow, it should be two years of age. If a goat is selected as sacrificial animal, it must be older than one year. In case of a sheep, it has to be more than six months of age.
It is appreciable for the Muslims to slaughter their animal themselves and often people do this themselves. However, if someone does not want to do the slaughtering himself or does not know how to do it, he can ask someone else to do it for him. People hire professional butchers for this purpose and pay them afterwards.
Once the sacrifice is done, it is divided in three parts; one for personal use, one for the friends and relatives and one for the poor. If someone wants to give away all or major part of the meat to the poor, there is no sin in it and if someone divides it in three parts and distributes accordingly, it is also admirable.
One thing has to be kept in mind that sacrificial animal should be healthy, beautiful and free of any disease but sacrifice should be done to please Allah and not to show wealth and pride. Sometimes people fall prey to desire of showing off their wealth and buy extremely costly animals just to show their financial status. If there is no respect in the heart for this tradition and one does not understand the spirit of sacrifice, Allah does not need anything from such sacrifice.
About the Author
Eaalim Travel is enthusiastic about imparting knowledge about the perfect example and life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and in doing so the idea is to create a deep love as well as connection with our Prophet ﷺ.
