Qurban (Ritual Sacrifice): Difference between revisions

The grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad, Abd-al-Muttalib, is also  reported by the Islamic tradition to have had an almost-sacrifice. According to the sira of [[ibn Ishaq]], he made a promise to the pagan god [[Hubal]] that if Hubal were to grant him ten sons he would sacrifice one of them to Hubal. After the birth of his tenth son, he went to the [[Ka'aba]] in order to engage in ميسر‎ "maisir" , or gambling by means of shooting arrows, on which one of his 10 children to sacrifice to the pagan god [[Hubal]]. He had each one of his sons write their name on an arrow and gave the ten arrows to an archer who cast die on which one of them he would shoot. After the die fell as it were on Abdullah, the future father of Muhammad, the Quraysh implored him not to sacrifice his son for fear of encouraging more sacrifices of sons. The Quraysh and his sons instead convinced him to consult a sorceress in Khaybar. The sorceress order him to offer the equivalent of the blood price for a man, 10 camels, to Hubal and use the same method to decide between sacrificing Abdullah and 10 camels. If the arrow fell on Abdullah, the sorcerres ordered him to add 10 camels to the existing number and try again and again until the arrow fell on the camels. After repeatedly playing the game of chance again and again, the arrows finally fell on the camels, by this point 100 of them, which he sacrificed, and this was seen as  evidence of divine intervention. </ref> (Muhammad ibn Ishaq. Sirat Rasul Allah. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). The Life of Muhammad. Oxford University Press. p.66-68)