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Zul Hajj 1423 SPECIAL QURBANI ISSUE February 2003 THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF QURBANI THE practice of sacrificing an animal for the sake of Allah dates right back to the time of our great progenitor, Sayyiduna Adam alaihis salaam. His son HAABEEL was the first human being to sacrifice an animal for Almighty Allah. Speaking of this episode, Allah Azza wa Jall says in Surah Maa-ida: "And narrate
unto them (O Muhammad) the true story of the two sons of Adam; when both of them
offered sacrifices (in The Name of Allah), but the offering of one was accepted
and not the other......." In the Tafseer of this ayat Imam Ibni Katheer narrates on the authority of Abdullah bin Abbas (radhiyallahu anhu) that Haabeel had offered a sheep, whilst his brother Qaabeel offered part of the crops of his land. The procedure ordained by Allah in those days was that a fire would descend from the heavens and consume the accepted sacrifice. And so accordingly, a fire came down and enveloped the animal slaughtered by Haabeel.The sacrifice of Haabeel was thus accepted, while Qaabeel's sacrifice was rejected. This lead to jealousy on the part of Qaabeel, resulting in the first human death when he murdered his brother Haabeel. Later on, after much remorse and repentance Allah granted him forgiveness. This procedure of manifesting in this world the acceptance and rejection of people's sacrifices continued right up till the time of Nabi Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam). Even after Jihad, Prophet's of former times were not allowed to utilize for themselves, or their followers the spoils of war. Instead, all wealth, weapons and equipment captured in battle were to be placed on the battlefield in anticipation of this fire. If it came and consumed the booty, their Jihad was accepted by Allah, otherwise not. It was a great boon from Allah for this Ummat that this procedure was discontinued upon the advent of Hazrat Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam), thus sparing his Ummat many an embarrassing moment. When we now offer any sacrifice, its acceptance or rejection is known only unto Allah. DEFINITION OF QURBANI THE term Qurbani is an Urdu word which comes from the Arabic 'Qurban', meaning any act through which a person gains nearness and proximity unto Almighty Allah. The word Qurban appears thrice in The Whole Quran. In one instance, in Surah Maa-ida, the reference is to an animal sacrifice, details of which shall come further on. In the other two places Allah Ta-Ala speaks of sacrifice in a general sense, referring to any act which may bring one closer to Him. And so, by and large this word Qurbani has come to be used as the name of the annual sacrifice of animals at the time of Eidul-Ad haa (Bakri Eid). In Arabic the words 'UDH-HIYYA' or ADH-HAA are used to refer to this sacrifice. These are the very terms employed in the Hadeeth by Rasoolullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) and his Sahaaba (radhiyallahu anhum) for Qurbani. In Shar'ee terminology Qurbani or Udh-hiyya means: The sacrificing of specific animals during a specific period of the year with an intention of gaining proximity onto Allah Azza wa Jall. TAKBEERE TASHREEQ This takbeer starts from after Fajr on 9 Zhul-Hijja and ends after Asr on 13 Zhul-Hijja. It is wajib upon every male and female performing a faraz salah alone or in jamaat, to recite this takbeer once after the faraz salah. Men should say it loudly while women will read it softly.
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