SACRIFICE ( قربانى)
To sacrifice something or someone to please God or to ward off evil or to gain a wish has been a ceremony in human culture since the beginning. It changes in appearance, in performance and in different cultures but it remains one way or another in both developed and non developed world. If this ritual is not part of religion it becomes a part of heritage or social norm.
First sacrifice was done by sons of Adam as mentioned in Quran:
وَاتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ ابْنَيْ آدَمَ بِالْحَقِّ إِذْ قَرَّبَا قُرْبَانًا فَتُقُبِّلَ مِنْ أَحَدِهِمَا وَلَمْ يُتَقَبَّلْ مِنَ الْآخَرِ قَالَ لَأَقْتُلَنَّكَ قَالَ إِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ اللَّهُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ ﴿المائدة: ٢٧﴾
here it is being told that sacrifice was done to get near (قرب )and to get this nearness to God person should be one. So no shirk, no partners with God. Even then the criteria of acceptance was to be righteous ( المتقين ). This verse is general in sense and applies to whole humanity.
Now when Allah calls all the humanity toward Islam and this call is highlighted in concept of Hajj, the word is changed from sacrifice (قربانى ) to haddi ( هدى). Why?
Haddi ( هدى) is the process of sending the animal toward Holy Kaaba for a collective sacrifice and is mandatory part of your completion of Hajj and as Hajj is compulsory ( fardh ) once in a lifetime, this collective sacrifice is also compulsory only once.
So what’s the difference? Know that sacrifice is done for God and you should be aware which God you believe and for which you can sacrifice all. If your wishes are your God you sacrifice to fulfill your wish. If your ideology is your God you can sacrifice yourself for it. If your knowledge is your God you sacrifice a lifetime for it. Its alright but you get reward from your God for such sacrifice.
Now Islam takes you to a higher level with the concept of Allah. Allah is name inclusive of all names of Allah and as each name acts as a God , Allah is called God of all (رب العالمين ) . To get to this level you have to sacrifice all other Gods in front of Allah and as Allah is One you have to do it only once and as Allah is collective of all names you have to do it in a collective way in Hajj.
Thus true Islam actually liberates you from all other Gods and ask you to submit only to Allah and if you can hold tight to one Allah all your life or may be for a while you become the righteous one ( متقي)
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