The Legend of Eid-ul-Zuha

Eid-ul-Adha or Eid-ul-Zuha or Bakrid is round the corner. And there’s more to Eid than delicious mutton, biryani and firni. For the masses, Eid is when four-legged animals (not just goats, but camels and sheep too!) are sacrificed (Zuha from uzhaiyya, the Arabic equivalent) as an offering to Allah. While prayers precede the sacrifice, it is followed by exchanging greetings, distributing meat and rejoicing with kin and kith. But no festival can exist without a legend, can it? So fellow readers, here’s the legend that led to genesis of Eid-ul-Zuha.

About 4000 years ago, Prophet Abraham (or Abram or Ibrahim, an early ancestor of Prophet Mohammed) had a wife named Sarah (or Sarai). After not being able to beget a child for years, Sarah suggests and allows Abraham to bear a child by Hagar, her handmaid. Agreeing to it, Abraham marries Hagar and she begets him his firstborn, whom they call Ishmael.  Some years after the birth of Ishmael, a divine intervention led to Sarah begetting another child for Abraham, which the couple named Isaac. After the birth of her own child, Sarah develops an even stronger disliking for Hagar and her son Ishmael and tells Abraham to send them away, which he regretfully does. The mother and son start on a journey from Cannan (modern day Israel-Palestine-Lebanon and area around it) to Arabia (modern day Saudi Arabia). Years later, Abraham returns to his abandoned wife and son and builds what the world today knows as Kaaba.

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Why Eid-ul-Zuha

While staying with Ishmael and Hagar, Abraham sees a recurring dream in which Allah commanded him to sacrifice what was dearest to him. Once Abraham realises God Almighty was referring to his son Ishmael, he sorrowfully tells him about this. Upholding God’s will above all, Ishmael convinces Abraham to behead and offer him to Allah. On their way to the sacrifice, the Devil appears before Abraham and tried to convince him to return, but Abraham refuses. But at the moment of sacrifice, it is revealed to Abraham that this was a mere test of faith and Ishmael need not be sacrificed. Abraham may sacrifice a goat (or a ram in some accounts) instead. It is to commemorate this sacrifice by Abraham that a goat is sacrificed every Eid-ul-Zuha.

Eid-ul-Zuha today

Not every Muslim is expected or even allowed to perform a sacrifice. A believer with wealth worth 400 grams of gold may perform the sacrifice, provided if he is free from any loan with interest (the eligibility may vary in some versions). For less resourceful people, a group of 7 or 70 people may offer a joint sacrifice. The animal must be healthy, above a year old ideally, disease-free and not mutilated in any aspect.

This festival also marks the end of an annual worship called Haj. Haj is a pilgrimage performed in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Every adult Muslim should perform the Haj once during his/her lifetime.

This highly revered festival also involves new clothes, prayer (or dua) for peace and prosperity, serving delicious food to friends and poor people and exchanging wishes and gifts with dear ones. This Eid-ul-Zuha, I plan to invite myself over to my Muslim friends’ house, what about you?