Islam is made up of certain pillars\nand concepts, which without these concepts is nothing but a name. Hajj is one\nof these pillars. It is so important that Allah (SWT) has said,\n“Pilgrimage thereto is a duty men owe to Allah, for those who can afford\nthe journey; but if any disbelieve (and ignore the journey has put a loss for\nhimself), Allah stands not in need of any of His creatures (1).”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hajj is a remembrance of Ibrahim\n(Abraham) (PBUH) and an inheritance of all prophets. It is a complete set of\nactions that must be performed in a specific order and time. Hajj rituals were\nrevealed and taught to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) by Gabriel, the\ntrustworthy angel of revelations. Angel Gabriel had taught the same Hajj\nrituals to Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once Pilgrims have performed Ramye\nJamareh (2) they must sacrifice a lamb or a cow before they do Taqsir (3). This\nunique and holy tradition of sacrifice in Hajj brings about a special proximity\nto Allah (SWT), which cannot be easily found in other worships and prayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the pre-Islamic era the act of\nsacrificing was intermixed with polytheism. Their “Labaik” slogan and\nprayers were intermixed with polytheism: “I answer to you O Lord, I answer\nyou! O Lord, I accept your invitation; you have no partner except the partner\nthat you are in charge of him and in charge of what he owns”(4). And their prayer beside the Ka\u2019ba was none\nother than clapping and whistling (5). The sacrifice of the polytheists was not\nmuch different either. Once they sacrificed an animal, they would wipe the\nblood of that animal to the walls of the Ka\u2019ba and would hang a piece of its\nmeat to the wall, so that it would be accepted by God! (6)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Islam views sacrifice\ndifferently. After expressing the necessity to respect holy rituals, (7) Allah\n(SWT) argues on the ignorant traditions of pre-Islamic period in the Holy\nQuran: “It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah: it is\nyour piety that reaches Him\u2026” (8). Hence, Allah (SWT) clearly declares a\ncloseness which is obtained through sacrificing for Him. Nevertheless, this\nverse cleans up the Ka\u2019ba from the ignorant traditions of pre-Islamic era and\nanswers this doubt that “since Allah is needless from the world, then it\nis not required for the pilgrim to sacrifice an animal.” The verse proves\nthat an actual sacrifice is indeed necessary; however, Allah (SWT) is needless\nof it. According to the verse, the meat and blood is worthless to Almighty\nAllah (SWT), but what is valuable to Him is the spirit and soul of that action\nwhich is piety. Therefore, what is accepted by Allah (SWT) is the essence of\nthe act. The sacrifice, just like other worships, has a true entity called\npiety: “it is your piety that reaches Him.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imam Sajjad (PBUH), in regards to\nsacrificing an animal, metaphorically says that a pilgrim must use the fear of\nAlmighty Allah (SWT) to kill and slaughter the beast of greediness (9).\nPerhaps, it is due to the promised piety in sacrifice that Eid al-Ad’ha is\ncalled “The Greater Hajj (10).”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another sensitive topic remains in\nthese verses and narrations that can be of use even to non-pilgrims. In\ngeneral, any act that is done for the intention of getting closer to Allah\n(SWT) is a sacrifice (Qurban) (11). The following narration confirms the\nprevious claim: “Alms and prayers are the sacrifice of Muslims (12).”\nTherefore, every single action that is performed for the sake of reaching\nproximity of Allah (SWT) is considered a sacrifice; and Allah (SWT) only\naccepts deeds with piety (13).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Selected from\n“Sahbaye Hajj”, by Ayatullah Jawadi Amuli, with minor changes)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congratulations to all servants of\nAllah (SWT) upon the arrival of Eid al-Ad’ha, the celebration of neglecting the\ndesires, and paying attention the satisfaction of the beloved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Footnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1- The Holy\nQuran, 3:97<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2- An action in\nwhich the pilgrim throws stones to a column resembling the Satan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3- One of the\nlast deeds in Hajj that pilgrim should cut\/shave her\/his hair of head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4- al-Kafi, vol.\n4, p. 542<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5- The Holy\nQuran, 8:35<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6- Bihar\nal-Anwar, vol. 67, p.275<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7- The Holy\nQuran, 5:2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8- The Holy\nQuran, 22:37<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9- Mustadrak\nal-Wasa’il, Vol. 10, p. 166 \u2013 Hadith Shabli<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10- Wasa\u2019il\nal-Shia, Vol. 10, pp. 86-88<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11- Majma\u2019\nal-Bahrain<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12- Nahj\nal-Balaghah (Peak of Eloquence), Sermon 199, section 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13- The Holy\nQuran, 5:27<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islam is made up of certain pillars and concepts, which without these concepts is nothing but a name. Hajj is one of these pillars. It is so important that Allah (SWT) has said, “Pilgrimage thereto is a duty men owe to Allah, for those who can afford the journey; but if any disbelieve (and ignore […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28431,28248],"tags":[24937,17778,24920,24938,24922,24348,18017,17990,18418,19888,24936,18838,21208],"class_list":["post-4884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eid-al-adha","category-occasional-letters","tag-2006-01-10","tag-allah","tag-eid-qurban","tag-gabriel","tag-hajj","tag-ibrahim","tag-islam","tag-muhammad","tag-occasion-letters","tag-piety","tag-piety-spirit-of-deed-and-reason-of-ascent","tag-prophets","tag-specific"],"yoast_head":"\n