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 🙏👍🏼💕💕💕
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