Hajj Qurbaani and Eid uz Zuha

The word Hajj literally means "to set out for a place," / "to undertake a journey" 

In Islamic terminology , Hajj is an annual pilgrimage made to the Kaaba , in the sacred city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia , which connotes both the outward act of undertaking a journey and the inward act of intentions ( niyat ) of performing the Holy Pilgrimage with utmost purity of the heart 

The rites of Hajj are performed over five or six days , beginning on the eighth day and ending on the thirteenth day of Zi’l-Hijj , the last month of the Islamic calendar.

“Ehraam” is the name given to the special spiritual state in which pilgrims wear two white sheets of seamless cloth and abstain from certain actions.

The Hajj is associated with the life of Islamic prophet Muhammad from the 7th century AD , but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca is considered by Muslims to stretch back thousands of years to the time of Abraham. 

During Hajj , pilgrims join processions of millions of people , who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Hajj , and perform a series of rituals 

Each person walks counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba , ( this act is called Tawaaf )

Then walks briskly back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwah seven times ,

then drinks from the Zamzam Well ,

then goes to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil , the vigil lasts from noon through sunset and is considered as one of the most significant rites of Hajj , 

then the Pilgrims spend a night in the plain of Muzdalifa , 

Muzdalifah is an open level area located between Arafat and Mina. 

Everyone sleeps on the ground in Muzdalifah. 

This practice really humbles a person because you leave all your luxury and comfort behind , thereby experiencing first hand what it’s like to spend a night without the things you are used to.

The night in Muzdalifah should ideally be spent seeking forgiveness , making dua , and reflecting on Hajj and life.

Next the Pilgrims perform symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing stones at three pillars in Mina

The stoning re-enacts the story of the Prophet Abraham , who it is said , was confronted by the Devil , and the Angel Jibril ( Gabriel ) asked him to reject the Devil by throwing stones. 

This ritual also symbolises the destruction of the inner devil.

Now comes the much-talked-about part of the entire Pilgrimage : The animal sacrifice , which to the uninitiated is perhaps the only visible ritual of the Pilgrimage ... A Pilgrimage that actually lasts for about a week ... And wherein the Pilgrims spend time praying , asking for forgiveness and above all undertaking the not-so-comfortable above mentioned rituals of the Pilgrimage 

So after the sacrifice of an animal , which is a commemoration of the sacrifice made by Abraham , and also as an act of thanksgiving , the male Pilgrims then are required to either trim their hair or shave their heads 

The females are required to trim the ends of their hair 

A celebration of the three-day global festival of Eid uz Zuha proceeds thereafter

( Source of info : Wikipedia )

So the animal sacrifice is at best a part of the Hajj Pilgrimage and Eid uz Zuha is a celebration of the Hajj Pilgrimage ... A Pilgrimage which is hectic and tiring , but spiritually very gratifying for the pilgrims and believers ... 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

P S : 

Eid means celebration , therefore we have Eid ul Fitr ( Celebration of having completed one month of fasting and giving fitra to the needy ) Eid e Milad ( the celebration of Prophet’s birth ) , and Eid uz Zuha

May this Hajj and Eid bring blessings of health prosperity sanity and happiness for all 

( Thanks Nishath for the pics and video of Hajj this year  😘🙏🏼💕💕💕 )

Eid uz Zuha and the legacy of Abraham

Every year , when Eid uz Zuha is round the corner , a debate around animal sacrifice warms up , intensifies and often ends up subtracting love and adding bitterness in relationships between friends who otherwise would gladly share a plate of Biryaani and relish kabaab-paratha at their favourite joint throughout the year 

Bachpan meiN Daadi se we have heard the stories of Hazarat Ibrahim , his sons , Ismail and Is'haaq ... And also about Is'haaq's sons and grandsons ... Jacob (Hazrat Yaqub) , Joseph (Hazrat Yusuf) , Jesus (Hazrat Eisa) ... 

Also about Moses (Hazrat Moosa)  and The Beni Israel 

The stories seem very interesting and inspirational as they invariably end up in a victory of the righteous , and if one were to remove from them the surreal religious significance , they seem quite contemporary in their expression of human emotions 

I used to be infinitely fascinated as my imagination would fly skyward when Daadi used to describe how angels brought the Manna-salwa from Heaven to Earth for God's chosen people , the followers of Moses 

According to the Bible , Manna , an edible substance was provided for the Israelites from the Heaven during their travels in the desert during the 40-year period following the Exodus and prior to the conquest of Canaan. 

This is also mentioned in the Quran 

Interestingly I realised that the stories Daadi told us , and that we carry in our heart may have multiple versions 

This I strongly believe adds to our cultural richness , as we , in our diversity , come to know that there is a shared legacy , how much ever distorted and torn apart , there still is a shared history that keeps the interaction alive 

So I keep searching the internet for some information that would be more or less detached and unbiased , bringing out similarities among faiths rather than highlighting their differences 

It is going to take a lot of time for me to understand the family trees , if ever I can .... !!!

But I have got a fairly interesting over all picture of The Abraham Family that has been managing the affairs in a major part of our Planet for thousands of years now 😊

Abraham (Hazrat Ibrahim) is known as the patriarch of the Israelite people through Isaac , the son born to him and Sarah (Hazrat Bibi Sara) in their old age

And Abraham is also the patriarch of Arabs through his son Ishmael , born to Abraham and Hagar (Hazrat Bibi Hajra) , his wife who earlier was Sarah’s Egyptian slave-girl.

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Twelve Tribes of Israel descended from the 12 sons of the patriarch Jacob

Levi (/ˈliːvaɪ/; Hebrew: לֵוִי; Lêwî) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites, including the Kohanim)

According to the Torah , the tribe is named after Levi , who was one of the twelve sons of the patriarch Jacob ...

Levi had three sons: 

Gershon, Kohath, and Merari (Genesis 46:11). 

Kohath's son Amram (Hazrat Imran) was the father of Miriam, Aaron and Moses.

According to the Bible, the Tribe of Levi is one of the tribes of Israel, traditionally descended from Levi, son of Jacob. 

The descendants of Aaron , who was the first kohen gadol (high priest) of Israel , were designated as the priestly class , the Kohanim.

The Sacrifice , Qurbani as the Muslims call it , is mentioned in Bible as well as in Quran

It also has a mention in the Jewish belief 

Interestingly the rabbis thought that the reason for Sarah's death was the news of the intended sacrifice of Isaac.

The sacrifice of Isaac is cited in appeals for the mercy of God in later Jewish traditions.

Isaac was the only patriarch who stayed in Canaan during his whole life and though once he tried to leave , God told him not to do so. 

Rabbinic tradition gave the explanation that Isaac was almost sacrificed and anything dedicated as a sacrifice may not leave the Land of Israel.

The post-biblical Jewish interpretations often elaborate the role of Isaac beyond the Biblical description and primarily focus on Abraham's intended sacrifice of Isaac, called the aqedah ("binding").

According to the Hebrew Bible , God commands Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. 

According to another version of these interpretations , Isaac actually died in the sacrifice and was revived.

According to many accounts of Aggadah , unlike the Bible , it is Satan who is testing Isaac as an agent of God

Unlike in the Bible , there is no mention in the Qur'an of an animal (ram) replacing the boy ; rather he is replaced with a " great sacrifice "

Later historiographic literature incorporates the Biblical narrative in which a ram is provided which is slaughtered instead of Ishmael.

(It is worthwhile to note that in the Islamic version of this history , Ishmael , and not Is'haaq) , is mentioned as that son of Ibrahim who was supposed to be sacrificed) 

(Source of all the above info : Wikipedia )

It is therefore amazing to note that while Qurbani / Sacrifice is mentioned in all the three Abrahamic faiths , it is being carried out in a big way only by the Muslims 

Also noteworthy is that animal sacrifice is mentioned in Bible and Torah , while the Quran says ...

“ And when they had both submitted , and he (Ibrahim) had laid him on his forehead , We called to him ,  “O ! Ibrahim , you have fulfilled the vision" . Indeed , in this way We reward the doers of good . Indeed this was certainly the clear trial . And We ransomed him with a greater sacrifice . And we left for him ( favourable mention ) among later generations :  "peace be upon him"

( Qur’an - 37:103-109 )

So Quran mentions "greater sacrifice" and not "animal sacrifice"

Look at the number of versions just this one story has !!!

Then imagine the number of faiths , and their patriarchs , their families and clans and such other intricacies ... Shall we still grudge about sects and sub-sects ... ?

Would it not be better that we try to understand their journeys ... ?

This ancient history , travelling through many centuries , via oral narrations , passing from one generation to the next by word of mouth , when it reached the stage of documentation , one can imagine how much distortion of facts must already have happened  

The Christians , the Jewish people and the Muslims share not just an intertwined and mind boggling history , but also belong to the same ancestor , Abraham ( Hazrat Ibrahim )

And  today they are tearing the world apart over what can boil down to being any other " family dispute " ,  much like the ones we see where ordinary people are haggling over the ownership of Abba-ki-kothi and Dada-ki- Haveli 

The only difference here , and that is a goose bumpy one for sure , is that this dispute over Khaandaani viraasat is spread across continents and takes in its folds the entire world !!!

There seems NOTHING religious or Godly about mindless destruction , hatred and violence that goes on for the ownership of land and monuments that are part of a shared history 

Muslims take pride that while earlier Holy Books have changed their original texts , Quranic verses have been preserved in their original form as was first revealed to The Prophet 

Well ... The text may not have changed but the sentiment has undergone humongous transitions ... Specially through the Hadis and the interpretation of the verses by various scholars 

So either no one takes the moral high ground or everyone takes it !

Period

And as for the Qurbaani I still maintain that in a civilised world , there are better options than animal sacrifice 🙏👍🏼💕💕💕

The Message and it's Interpretation

The followers of Islam believe that Prophet of Islam is the last Messenger of God and the Message he brought has been perfected and cannot be changed 

So Orthodox Muslims believe that the followers of earlier prophets had distorted the Divine Messages and hence God sent the same Message through The Holy Quran 

It was revealed in verses and paragraphs from time to time to the Prophet Mohammed ( peace be upon him ) after he was blessed with Divine Enlightenment , via Angel Jibriil ( peace be upon him ) 

And so one can conclude that The Message in its essence has not changed , it has only been " corrected " , and the " distortions " , if any have been sorted out 

Therefore , it follows that Quran is Almighty Lord's Message for the entire mankind and is supposed to remain unchanged at all times 

So be it 

But the world has changed from what it was fourteen / fifteen hundred years back 

And if The Holy Quran is a Message for the entire mankind for all times , then it must be interpreted according to the times 

It has been studied and explained by learned researchers for the better understanding of the ordinary people 

An old belief is like an old shoe. 

We so value its comfort that we fail to notice the hole in it ...

The scholars of the olden days were human and their interpretations were not word of God 

They translated and interpreted the Quran as per customs and traditions of that era and their own understanding of The Holy text 

Believing their words to be the gospel truth , absorbing those interpretations in our lives without analysing / questioning , and trying to justify the texts of the scholars who lived in another era to be valid even today is an insult to the intelligence of the present day observers , researchers and students of theology 

Islam does not believe in stagnation of the people and the society 

And if it is a philosophy based on reason , equality and justice , newer interpretations with changing times must be accommodated to keep the faith relevant to the times in which we live 

And this is possible without sacrificing the basic principles of Islam if the believers really care about what they believe in

Here I would like to point out how translations without deep understanding have also changed , if not the meaning , then at least the sentiment of the Message , and hence the thinking of the people 

Take for instance the word " banda" ...

In Urdu we say Allah / Khuda ka banda 

In English I have seen "Allah / Khuda ka banda" being translated as "servant of Allah " at many places

The dictionary meaning of "banda" is "fellow"

So how the word that translates as " fellow " has been appropriated as "servant" ?

This sounds like a baal-ki-khaal-nikaalna kind of exercise because we are talking about a word that is seemingly such an insignificant and ordinary word 

But I think it is important because of the image it creates of the relationship between Man and God 

Obviously the words used for conveying The Holy Message , are pertinent if the essence of The Message is to be kept intact 

Religion is essentially for the people to help them become better human beings 

Facts and knowledge that kill compassion and empathy are useless for mankind's progress because vested interests will always use them to hurt and harm those who disagree 

Khaandaan etc

This hilariously heart warming msg about the local Illahabadi vocabulary / dialect recently shared on social media by some nostalgic Illahabadis , which I shared with my folks too , and a cousin’s remark :

" Tum bhi to aadhi Illahabadi ho ... " 

( I was married into a family from Allahabad ) that got me thinking ... 

Ek insaan ke andar kitni jagah ki mitti khoon bann kar daud rahi hoti hai 

Kitni jaghoN ke paaniyoN ne uss ki khoobsoorti ko siiNcha hota hai 

Ek hi insaan kitney qabiiloN , kitney mazhaboN , kitney cultures ka chalta-phirta representative hota hai ... 

Equality among human beings is a very important point in theoretical Islam , but when it comes to human interactions one cannot deny the existence of sects , sub sects castes etc among Muslims also

And that illusion “ ours-is-the-true-Islam “ with which every sect "enlightens" the minds of their young ones remains a disappointing reality 

Fortunately I have grown up in a Khandaan that pretty much has been a wholesome pot of mixed ingredients ... like the delicious haleem where wheat , rice , barley are mixed with a number of daals and meat / chicken and cooked with spices ...

Our "Haleem" of relationships has an innovative addition of vegetables too , to add to its nutritional value 😀

My grandfather ( Dada ) belonged the Syed sect while Dadi was a Pathan 

My mother and my Chaachi belonged to Pathan families too

Mummy used to often jokingly say that her Saasu Mom chose Pathan Bahus , to ensure that her side of the genes becomes more prominent in the next generation 😜 ... and that we children are therefore 75% Pathan and only 25% Syed 😀 

So much for our seriousness on the matter of man-made differences between human beings 

No one took these differences to heart 

Even religious differences melted in the warmth of our family hearth 🤝🏼👏🏼💞💞💞

In my parents youth there used to be large joint families in almost every house , and many such houses in a mohalla , who were intertwined and interconnected like a mesh , sharing dialects , customs , clothes , arts , food habits and so much more in a heterogenous amalgamation 

Language laced with wit and mutual respect was the most interesting and visible colour that decorated the tapestry of our existence 

It would have made for a good peek into the culture and customs of a Khandaan in Uttar Pradesh , had someone cared to note them down somewhere because language is the window that opens the character of the people who make it a medium of their communication 

We know what it is like to have half of your clan lost in time because some "leaders of the people" wanted people to be divided !!!

Hence we value human relationships dearly

It is Mashaallah an extremely rejuvenating , enriching and beautiful feeling to share cultures and lives with people of different ethnicities as they find their way through your heart , to your family 

I hope and pray that sensibility and affection spreads even wider in my lovely and blessed Khaandaan ... and elsewhere ... And everyyyyyyywhere ... 😘😘😘

Aameen 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼