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Qurban (قربان, Urdu and Persian ghorbani/qorbani قرباني) means "sacrifice" in Arabic. It's origin is actually Aramaic and ultimately Hebrew. The consonantal root ق-ر-ب is semantically associated with the idea of closeness, such as the common adjective قريب "qarib" meaning "close" (also as a noun close one/relative). Its ultimate meaning stems from the ancient sacrifices of the priests in Jerusalem, who would "come close" to the שכינה "shekhina", the holy presence of God (יהוה YHVH) to offer YHVH the sacrifice. The Islamic tradition recognizes at least two close instances of human sacrifice which were averted at last second and contemporary Muslims continue to engage in yearly animal sacrifice on عيد الأضحى "Eid Al-Adha", the Eid of the Sacrifice. The word is also used in Christian Arabic to refer to the "sacrifice" of the Mass, where the priest consecrates the sacrificial "blood and body" of the Lord Jesus Christ. | Qurban (قربان, Urdu and Persian ghorbani/qorbani قرباني) means "sacrifice" in Arabic. It's origin is actually Aramaic and ultimately Hebrew. The consonantal root ق-ر-ب is semantically associated with the idea of closeness, such as the common adjective قريب "qarib" meaning "close" (also as a noun close one/relative). Its ultimate meaning stems from the ancient sacrifices of the priests in Jerusalem, who would "come close" to the שכינה "shekhina", the holy presence of God (יהוה YHVH) to offer YHVH the sacrifice. The Islamic tradition recognizes at least two close instances of human sacrifice which were averted at last second and contemporary Muslims continue to engage in yearly animal sacrifice on عيد الأضحى "Eid Al-Adha", the Eid of the Sacrifice. The word is also used in Christian Arabic to refer to the "sacrifice" of the Mass, where the priest consecrates the sacrificial "blood and body" of the Lord Jesus Christ. | ||
Ibrāhīm (Arabic: ابراهيم, Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם) , the biblical patriarch Abraham ( allegedly born circa 1900 BC to 1861 BC – died between 1814 BC to 1716 BC, though the evidence for this is very late), is an important prophet in Islam. He is the son of Tarekh and the father of the Prophet Ismail (Ishmael) -his first born son- and the Prophet | Ibrāhīm (Arabic: ابراهيم, Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם) , the biblical patriarch Abraham in the Bible( allegedly born circa 1900 BC to 1861 BC – died between 1814 BC to 1716 BC, though the evidence for this is very late), is an important prophet in Islam. He is the son of Tarekh and the father of the Prophet Ismail (Ishmael) -his first born son- and the Prophet Ishaq (Isaac) his second born. Ibrahim is considered the Father of the Prophets in orthodox Islam. Ibrahim is commonly termed Khalil Allah, or "Friend of God" or "Braheem". Islam regards many of the biblical patriarchs as prophets of Allah, and hence as Muslims (i.e., monotheists). Ibrahim is regarded as a Hanif (a term of considerable confusion in the Qur'an that seems to indicate some type of monotheism or obedience to Allah). According to the Islamic tradition, Ibrahim was ordered to sacrifice his favored son Isma'il by Allah, an order that Ibrahim faithfully followed up until the last second when Allah stopped him and provided a ram to sacrifice in Isma'il 's stead, saving Isma'il . | ||
The grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad, Abd-al-Muttalib, is reported by the Islamic tradition to have | This story of Ibrahim almost sacrificing Isma'il however can only be regarded as apocryphal, coming as it does more than a thousand years after the primary source which first describes this event, Genesis 22:1-14, and more than two thousand years after the event itself is said to have taken place. Moreover the change made to the story from the one found in the Bible, the son being Isma'il instead of his brother Ishaq, betrays a clear sectarian purpose. According to the Islamic tradition Isma'il is the progenitor of the Arabs, who were in the first centuries of Islam pre-eminent in their singular claim to the Islamic tradition, whereas in both the Judaic and Islamic traditions Ishaq(Yitzkhaq or Isaac in Hebrew) is the progenitor of the Jewish people. By moving the favored position of the miracle from Ishaq to Isma'il, the Islamic tradition is making a bold encroachment into the sacred history of the Jewish people and laying claim to their favor by god and Ibrahim. | ||
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 tradition, he went to the [[Ka'aba]] in order to engage in ميسر "maisir" or gambling on which one of his 10 children to sacrifice to the pagan god [[Hubal]]. After the die fell as it were on Abdullah, the future father of Muhammad, his daughters implored Abd-al-Muttalib to sacrifice 10 camels instead. After repeatedly playing the game of chance again, the dice finally fell on the camels, which he sacrificed, and this was seen as evidence of divine intervention. This story is thus used to explain Qur'an surah 37 ayahs 106-107 | |||
{{Quote|Quran 37:106-107|This was certainly an evident test. And We redeemed him with a great sacrifice.}} | {{Quote|Quran 37:106-107|This was certainly an evident test. And We redeemed him with a great sacrifice.}} | ||
Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Bairam" is a religious festival celebrated by [[Muslims]] (including the | Evidence from outside of the Islamic tradition, however, shows that human sacrifice, of children and prisoners of war, stopped before the 7th century AD in the 6th century in Arabia, which may indicate that this story was invented in order to explain the Qur'an verse rather than representing an authentic tradition about the life of the prophet. | ||
[[Druze]]) worldwide to commemorate the willingness of [[Ibrahim]] to sacrifice his son [[ | |||
of obedience to [[God in Islam|God]] | "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Bairam" id est عيد الأضحى "Eid Al-Adha" is a religious festival celebrated by [[Muslims]] (including the | ||
[[Druze]]) worldwide to commemorate the willingness of [[Ibrahim]] to sacrifice his son [[Isma'il]] as an act | |||
of obedience to [[God in Islam|God]] and the sacrifice's close-call aversion by Allah providing a ram to sacrifice in Isma'il's stead. Qurban is used to refer to the sacrifice of a livestock animal during Eid ul-Adha. | |||
Eid al-Adha is the latter of two [[Muslim holidays|Eid]] festivals celebrated by Muslims, whose basis comes | Eid al-Adha is the latter of two [[Muslim holidays|Eid]] festivals celebrated by Muslims, whose basis comes | ||
from the Quran.<ref>[{{Quran-url-only|2|196}} Quranic Basis for Eid al-Adha]</ref> (Muslims in Iran celebrate a third, non-denominational [[Eid e shuja|Eid]].) | from the Quran.<ref>[{{Quran-url-only|2|196}} Quranic Basis for Eid al-Adha]</ref> (Muslims in Iran celebrate a third, non-denominational [[Eid e shuja|Eid]].) | ||
Like [[Eid al-Fitr]], Eid al-Adha begins with a short prayer followed by a sermon. | Like [[Eid al-Fitr]], Eid al-Adha begins with a short prayer followed by a sermon. | ||
==Social Impact of Qurban== | |||
Qurban during Eid-al-Adha provides much economic boon for the suppliers of the animals (usually but not strictly limited to goats, an association so strong that the holiday is know in Urdu as بکرا عید "bakra eid" or "the goat Eid") and also much leather for manufacturers. The economic strain of buying a whole goat to sacrifice though is often too much for poor families, despite feeling a compulsion to do this as it is a necessary ritual in orthodox Sunni Islam, and the massive amount of animals being slaughtered in the Islamic [[halal]] fashion leads to literal rivers of blood in some majority-Muslim cities like Karachi and Dhaka, blood which can unsanitarilly linger for days after the festival in poor areas. | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||