Agniveer wishes a heartiest Id-Mubarak to all its Muslim brothers and sisters. And it appeals to them to make it an Id-Mubarak also for the innocent animals who are murdered for no fault of theirs. We shall explore in this article why the concept of animal sacrifice on Bakr-Id is completely illogical and against the tenets of Muhammad. There is a story behind celebration of Bakr-Id that most of you know. There was a Prophet Abraham as per Islamic and Biblical mythology who was ordered by God/Allah in dream to sacrifice his son. He obeyed and decided to sacrifice Ismail – his dear son. Just before he was about to butcher his son, God stopped the sacrifice and replaced the son with a ram (sheep). God was pleased with loyalty of Abraham and hence to mark this ‘great moment’ Bakr-Id is celebrated by sacrificing a goat, ram, cow or camel after the Namaz. Now let us analyze the veracity as well as logical basis of this story: 1. First of all, even if we take the story at face value, a sheep or ram was sacrificed. But Bakr means a ‘cow’. Some say it means a ‘camel’. Then why should the festival be called Bakr-Id and not Sheep-Id? Why are cows, goats or camels sacrificed when they do not form part of the story? 2. And if a festival is called Cow-Id when the story is about sacrifice of a sheep, why not instead call it Grains-Id and simply distribute food-grains for needy ones? After all the resources spent on 1 kg of meat is able to produce more than 10 kg of food-grains. This shows that the person who started this festival was anyone but someone inspired from Allah. How can Allah be so wasteful and brutal? 3. Allah came in dream of Prophet Abraham to order him to kill his son. Does Allah come similarly in dreams of Muslims who butcher animals to celebrate Id? If not, why they try to imitate Abraham like a monkey? And if they still want to imitate Abraham, why not butcher their own children and wait for Allah to stop their hands if He wishes so? Why this double standard? The reason is clear – All Muslims know clearly that no Allah ever appears in dreams or stands up to stop people from doing certain actions in such fantastic manners. So basically they are trying to fool Allah to make Him believe how much they love Him without giving an inch of sacrifice. 4. Muslim scholars across the world have denounced this story as a fake one. They rightly state that Allah can never come in anyone’s dream to ask him to kill his children. When Allah has himself prohibited murder, how come He act as a criminal by asking anyone to do so. Ideally, even if Allah came in dream to ask Abraham to kill his son, he should have said clearly to Allah that he cannot disobey Allah’s original orders. This would have been the real passing of test of Allah. Further, when Allah already knows everything, why does He need to take crazy tests? After all He also knows the answer that the examinee will give. Why such a drama then? But the fake Quran available today creates a villain out of Allah. Allah Himself creates rule and then instigates His followers to break those rules. For example, He asked everyone to bow down to none other than Allah Himself. But then He ordered Satan to bow down to Adam. When Satan refused, He was punished by Allah. To read this tragedy in poetic form, please visit Shaitan Ka Dukhda. Just think, if instead of killing the son, what should Abraham have done if Allah had asked him to rape his child? Should he have followed the order of Allah? Incidentally, such stories have opened a Pandora’s Box. Refer Click This Link Hence it is proven that such fake stories do not exist in original Quran. Muslims should reject all such fake verses that denigrate Allah and Muhammad who is alleged to have compiled such illogical verses under inspiration of Allah. 5. We provide two links of articles by eminent Muslim scholars who clearly proclaim that this is a fake story that insults Allah and hence should be rejected. They say that no such dream ever came and no such dream inspired by Allah can ever come. Whatever Abraham may have done was through his own hallucinations. http://www.submission.org/Ismail.html Click This Link Summary conclusions of these articles are as follows: - The story behind Bakr-Id is a fake one - Allah can never ask anyone to do any evil act like killing one’s own innocent children - Prophets are vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. Thus there is no guarantee that whatever Prophet Abraham or Prophet Muhammad is supposed to have stated, as per records of his followers who were not prophets, is not inspired from Satan. - Allah never asked Abraham to even sacrifice a sheep or goat. There is no such mention in Quran. 6. If we look into real Quran, it very clearly advocates vegetarianism and condemns those who kill innocent creatures. That is why a large number of progressive Muslims are turning vegetarian today. Please visit http://islamveg.com for one of the largest vegetarian groups of world. It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah: it is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to you, that ye may glorify Allah for His Guidance to you and proclaim the good news to all who do right. (Quran 22.37) “There is not an animal in the earth, nor a flying creature flying on two wings, but they are peoples like unto you. We have neglected nothing in the Book (of Our decrees). Then unto their Lord they will be gathered.” (Quran 6:38) http://islamveg.com/fatwas.asp gives a list of fatwas favoring vegetarianism. This clearly shows that Allah does not ask for animal-killing. Wherever animal-sacrifice is mentioned, it simply means using animals for good purpose and caring for them. And if that not be the case, it is better to reject false verses in name of Supreme than follow brutality blindly. 7. That is why during the period of Haj, no animal killing is allowed. Even killing of a lice in head is forbidden. No animal sacrifice takes place in Kaba. If indeed it were order of Allah, then Kaba should have been hottest destination for animal sacrifice. Q: Ok, I understand that the story is fake and what we Muslims do on Bakr-Id is only a social ritual. But what is the harm in eating meat? A: Several: a. It is the most hazardous practice for environment and hygiene. b. It is most inefficient form of food production and prime cause of hunger in world. Because the resources used to prepare meat of animals that gives 1 calorie of energy can grow more than 10 calories of vegetarian energy. In other words, if people turn vegetarian, more than ten times more people can feed their hunger. Also crops are renewable. One seed can grow many more plants. But animal, once killed, cannot come back and grow thousand other animals. Taking this into consideration, vegetarian food can feed several hundred times more people than those fed by meat. Since Muslim countries are among the poorest in the world, the ONLY relevant Zakat or charity for Muslims could be to turn vegetarian and feed their fellow brothers and sisters. c. There are no health benefits associated with meat eating. On contrary, many diseases are nurtured and contracted solely through meat eating habits. d. There is no evidence that meat eating makes you stronger. Even the wrestling world champion these days, Sushil Kumar, is a vegetarian. e. If meat-eating is justified, why should not even dead human beings, insane people, old people and small babies who are not productive in society be also eaten. Meat of Zakir Naik would perhaps be more beneficial than that of any goat, cow, camel or sheep. Zakir Naik says that Muslims are docile and non-violent because they eat non-violent and docile animals. By this logic itself, Muslims will become scholars if they eat meat of scholars like Zakir Naik and his IRF gang. f. Would you volunteer to be eaten yourself to feed others? If no, then why kill innocent animals who also feel the same pain, grief and love life the way you do. In fact, you may still be susceptible t0 stress and tensions, so you enjoy life less. So if animals can be killed, even you, your children, your parents, your friends, your neighbors and all insane and dead people should also be eaten away. This is not a treatise on vegetarianism, so I request everyone to research this topic themselves. But the basic point is that killing of innocent animals in name of pleasing the Supreme Allah is a most foolish and insulting act towards Allah. Q: But even plants have life. By that logic should we stop eating everything and die with hunger? A: 1. No one, except the illiterate farmer in California whom Zakir Naik met (refer Zakir Naik on Halal Meat) ever proved that plants feel pain in same manner as animals. 2. Plants are in inert unconscious state and do not feel pain like patients in coma. There is no soul in plant that knows that ‘I’ am the mango tree the way you feel that ‘I’ am Zakir Naik and I am an ‘Indian Mujahideen’. So there is no harm in eating plants. Now you would argue that this means that even coma patients should be eaten up. This only shows cannibalistic attitude desperate for sensations on tongue. But fact is that a plant will never revive into consciousness, but a coma patient can. Further, from health reasons, eating meat is stupidity. Thus there is no reason why anything except plants be eaten by taking life. 3. Eating plants is a most environment friendly way of living and solves problem of hunger in world. So only plants should be eaten. 4. Even if you argue that plants may have soul that feels ‘I’ am mango-tree or carrot, even then it is better to eat plants and not animals. Because we know 100% that animals feel pain, have face and enjoy life the way we do. When they are butchered, they wriggle in pain in same manner that a Zakir Naik or Osama Bin Laden or Imam Bukhari or you would do. But for plants you are not 100% sure. In fact there is no evidence that they face the same pain as you do when butchered. So its better to eat plants even from a probabilistic standpoint. After all if you know that eating plants is more healthy, safer, hygienic, environment friendly, poverty reducing and yet not brutal like animal killing, don’t you agree that only a fool will eat animals and make his or her own nature brutal. Q: What about Hindus who kill during festivals like Kali Puja? A: What do you expect us to say? They are also wrong and acting inhuman. Perhaps slightly less because they use ‘jhatka’ instead of ‘halal’ method but nonetheless a murder is a murder. Vedas nowhere sanction this in name of worship of God. Vedas, on contrary, loudly proclaim that compassion towards all animals is necessary to qualify as a human being. Refer No beef in Vedas. Had Hindus not succumbed to anti-Vedic practices, how could the brutal uncivilized invaders conquer them and still rule them despite a pseudo-independence! Q: So you mean as a Muslim, I should not be killing any living-being? A: Exactly! Being a true Muslim, you need to do following: - Accept only those verses of Quran and Hadiths that do not cast Allah or Muhammad as merciless, characterless, moody or whimsical. - Interpret all verses of remaining Quran only in lines of reason, rationality, justice and compassion. If there is any confusion, reject it. - Since Quran clearly says that meat does not go to Allah, you should NEVER kill animals for meat. - You should act in rational manner, be concerned about environment, be concerned about poor fellow beings, be compassionate to innocent animals and hence never ever kill innocent harmless animals for taste. - You should instead take good care of these animals and use them for your benefit. Chapter 2 of Quran is Surah Bakar or Chapter of Holy Cow. Hence Cow is holy for you and should always be nurtured. Take her milk, ghee, butter and all benefits she bestows upon human beings without torturing her or depriving her calf of mother’s milk. The Hadith of Zâd al-ma‘âd by Ibn Qayyim says that: The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “You should use cows’ milk, because it is good for health, and cows’ ghee is good for health, but beef is bad for health.” Actually, the literal meaning of the words the Prophet used is much stronger than that. He said that milk is “healing,” ghee is “medicine,” and beef is “disease.” In the Book of Medicine of the Mustadrak al-Hakîm [a classical hadith commentary by al-Hakîm al-Nîsaburî], the first hadith is: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings upon him, said: “Allah did not create any disease without creating its cure; and in cows’ milk is a cure for every disease.” The third hadith in this book says on the subject of healing: “Because the cow grazes from every kind of plant.” Refer http://ipaki.com/content/html/28/1203.html - As a true Muslim you should wage a Jihad (Holy War) against all those forces who insult Allah or Muhammad by celebrating Id in wrong manner, eating meat by killing innocent animals, killing cow which is most holy, claiming that all non-Muslims will burn in eternal Hell and presenting a wrong Quran with wrong interpretations against fellow Muslims. To die in Allah’s cause in such a Jihad is indeed welcome and most glorifying. To such a true Jihadi Muslim – who stands for peace, humanity, character and compassion – Agniveer wishes a very very happy Bakr-Id (Festival of happiness by service of cow)View this link