Significance of Eid-Al-Adha
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
As Salaam Aleikum Brother Burhan, As the Eid Al-Adha is approaching I
would like to ask you a few things:-
1) What did
Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) do on this day ?
2) Is it compulsary
to do Qurbani on this day by the head of the family
or is it compulsary for every member of the family or
It is just a Sunnah ?
3) Where the meat
of this Qurbani to be distributed ?
4) What should one
pray on this day ?
5) How did this
day came into effect, Any Quranic reference please ?
5) What are the
importance & responsibility on Muslims for this day ?
May god bless you
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none
can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
We bear witness that there is no one (no idol,
no person, no grave, no
prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone,
and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of
His Messengers.
We assume and will answer all the question you have asked regarding the Eid-al-Adha for the believers who are not actually
performing the pilgrimage of Hajj.
The Messenger of Allah (saws)
led the Eid prayers in his mosque in
The Sunnah
of the Messenger of Allah (saws) is that one should abstain from taking a full
meal, but should rather make his first meal from the meat of the sacrificed
animal. Please note that this does not
mean that one should fast or abstain from eating or drinking anything else
prior to the meal from the meat of the sacrificed animal. One is permitted to eat or drink as he wills; but it is
preferable to make his first main meal from the meat of the sacrificed animal.
Your question: Is it compulsary to
do Qurbani on this day by the head of the family or
is it compulsary for every member of the family or It
is just a Sunnah ?
Performing the sacrifice or Qurbani is a Sunnah of the
Messenger of Allah (saws);
and not obligatory. If
one performs the sacrifice,
there is a huge reward for him from Allah Subhanah. And if for any reason, one does not perform the
sacrifice, there is no sin. The most one can say of the ones who have
the means but do not perform the sacrifice, is that they missed the opportunity to
earn a huge reward from Allah Subhanah.
When the Messenger of Allah
(saws) was asked what one would get if he performed the sacrifice, he (saws)
replied that Allah would give the person a ‘hasanah’
(or reward) for each hair of the animal sacrificed… basically implying that
there was a huge reward from Allah Subhanah for this
deed.
One Qurbani
per family is enough;
but if one does more than one,
he will earn more reward from Allah Subhanah.
It is preferred to distribute
the meat of the Qurbani into three parts:
Keep one part for himself and
his immediate family
Distribute one part amongst
friends and family
Distribute one part amongst the
poor and needy believers.
But if one keeps the full meat
of the Qurbani for himself, there is no harm and no sin. It is the Sunnah
of the Messenger of Allah (saws) that he used to eat part of the Qurbani meat himself.
One should pray the Eid prayers with the believers, and perform the Qurbani or sacrifice… as both are considered Ibaadah or worship for the Pleasure of Allah Subhanah. Apart
from this, one may pray and do dhikr of the Merciful
Lord as much as he/she wills.
Your question: How did this day
came into effect, Any Quranic reference please ?
Allah and His Messenger (saws)
have declared two days as Eids or days of celebration
for the believers. One is Eid-al-Fitr which the believers celebrate after the month
of fasting (1st Shawwal); and one is the Eid-al-Adha
which is to be celebrated after the Day of Hajj or Arafah, that is the 10th
of Dhil-Hajjah.
This day of Eid-al-Adha
is dedicated to Allah Subhanah in remembrance and the
honor of the Supreme Sacrifice of Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.), where he was commanded by Allah in a dream to
sacrifice his only son Prophet Ismail (a.s.), and which
Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.)
willingly accepted, and went ahead
whole-heartedly to obey his Lord. When
Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.) had
laid down his beloved son Prophet Ismail (a.s.) to sacrifice him,
Allah told him that He was only testing him, and substituted a ram to be sacrificed
instead of his beloved son. Allah
accepted and honored this Supreme Sacrifice of Prophet Ibrahim
(a.s.), and was so pleased with the deeds and
sacrifice of ‘Khalil-ur-Rahmaan’
Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.), that the All Mighty honored the name and act
of Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.)
to be followed by the believers until the Day of Judgement!
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 37 Surah Saafaat verses 99-111:Ibrahim
said, “I shall go to my Lord. He will
guide me. (And he prayed) O my
Lord! Grant me a son who should be
amongst the Righteous.” (In answer to
this prayer) We gave him the good news of a gentle and clement son. When the boy (Prophet Ismail)
reached the age to work with him, (one day) Ibrahim
said to him, “O my son! I have dreamt
that I am sacrificing you. Now tell me
what you think of it?” He (Prophet Ismail) said, “ My dear
father, do as you are being
commanded. You will find me, if Allah wills, of
the patient.” At last, when the two had submitted themselves
(to Allah), and Ibrahim
had flung his son down on his brow, and
We called out: “O Ibrahim! You have indeed fulfilled your vision! Thus do We reward
the righteous. This was indeed a
manifest trial (from your Lord).” And
We ransomed his son for a Great Sacrifice, and left for him praise among
posterity for ever! Peace is upon Ibrahim. Thus do We reward the Righteous.
Your question: What are the
importance & responsibility on Muslims for this day ?
The importance and
responsibility of the believers on this day in particular and all days in
general is that we should take the example of the Noble and Great Father of the
Prophets, Khalil
ur-Rahmaan,
Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.)
and obey and follow each and every command of Allah Subhanah
unconditionally. Allah has so honored
and was so pleased with the obedience and worship of Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.) that The All
Mighty Lord chose Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.) as His ‘Khalil’ or Choicest
Friend! There is no bigger honor than
this, when the
Lord of the Universe Himself chooses one amongst His created slaves and makes
him His Choicest Friend! Such was the
honor and position given to the Noble and Great Prophet Ibrahim
(a.s.), who spent his whole life in the
worship and cause of Allah Subhanah. Seldom in the history of man, has a human
being faced so many trials like the trials of Prophet Ibrahim
(a.s.), each of which the noble Prophet passed
with flying colors! All his life, this Noble Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.) faced trials upon
trials for his belief in the One Lord,
but never did he sway away from the Straight Path of Islam! Allah Subhanah
accepted his deeds,
and so honored and raised his position, that He made him the Father of all the Divine
Religions, and chose from his loins all
the Prophets of Bani Israel, and also from his loins chose the Last and
Final Messenger, Mohamed ar-Rasool Allah (saws);
who declared that he himself followed the Way of the noble Prophet Ibrahim!
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 161:(O Mohamed) say, “As for me, my Lord has most certainly guided me to the
Straight Path, the ever True Faith, Ibrahim’s Way, which he adopted exclusively and
whole-heartedly, and he was not of those
who associated others with Allah.”
Our duty and responsibility as
believers, is to follow the same way as
was followed by all the Prophets of Allah Subhanah, and obey,
follow, invoke and worship none
but Allah Subhanah,
the Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything that exists in
between.
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He
is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
