10 things I hate about bakra Eid
2. Call me an infidel, but I just can’t bring myself to make merry at the idea of mass murdering a few hundred thousand cute, furry, unsuspecting farm animals in a span of 72 hours … and that too publically, in front of a sadistically gleeful audience.
3. All the barbeque talk. Show some sensitivity people!
4. The questions: Are you slaughtering a goat or a cow? How much will you be spending this year? Only two days left, dude, where’s your animal? Seriously guys. I’ll get whatever I want, whenever I want — the fact that I’ll probably only be able to afford an undernourished midget cow is my business and my business alone!
5. How everyone, including some highly intelligent people, lose their marbles a week before Eid, spending everyday just staring at their animals. Poor thing’s bound to get the heebie-jeebies!
6. Eid morning — help me God if I have to leave the house and witness the genocide… which I always do, with unrealistic expectations of remaining all Zen at the sight of blood and gutted animals.
7. Becoming a vegetarian for a couple of weeks after freaking out at the sight of above-mentioned blood. Especially if you’re the kind of person who actually looks forward to his weekly steaks and hamburgers.
8. How the true essence of the tradition is lost on most of us — people would gladly spend bundles of cash on four goats and two cows at Bakra Eid so they can feed their own greed and gluttony by stuffing their deep-freezers to full capacity, but go berserk if a truly deserving person should ask them for a little meat to feed his/her hungry children some other time during the year.
9. How some parents think watching Jackie Chan act like a nincompoop in a movie is bad influence for their kids, but watching four blood-soaked men brutally attack, slaughter, skin and butcher an 800 pound cow — live — is healthy entertainment.
10. Post Bakra Eid dinner parties with red-meat dishes in great abandon. How very subtle!
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, November 6th, 2011.
COMMENTS (184)
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The only thing i don't like abt how we practice Eid-ul-Adha is forgetting the basic principle of Islam: Cleanliness. Blood and other parts of animals are left on streets to decay and remind people that it was Eid, for many days. I think if this sacrificing is done in some butcher house outside residential premises it will help a lot of people. This practice is common in many Arab and European countries and i think should be practised here too.
Allah wanted us to do qurbani in respect for our prophet. We have turned it around into a mass-killing circus. The non-Muslims are watching in disgust at the way Muslims butcher animals (there are 5 billion NON-Muslims in this world). This is bringing a very negative image of Islam and people are disgusted with Islam. This is not what we want. We must present qurbani is a good way that the people will see it in a positive way. The way is to stop door-to-door qurbani.
LOL! I'll pass it as a mere entertaining piece. Nothing else!
These are the thoughts of the new generation about of religious festival
Nobody is objecting the the act of Qurbani. The objection is to the way it is done. The animal is paraded on the streets, cutting is done on the streets, children are encourages to take part in the killing and all the waste is left on the streets to rot and increase the fly population a hundred times.
I'm surprised by the mentality of the Pakistani people. I see countless comments here condemning the writer for speaking his mind against a very valid concern. He, nor I or anyone else who's irked by the blood and gore we have to witness every year during Bakra Eid, is simply asking people to carry out the ritual in a slightly less callous way. Islam is very particular about respecting the dead, whether it is humans or animals. No one here is saying eating meat is wrong because it isn't, but butchering animals on the streets in front of a 'sadictically gleeful audience' IS wrong. Do it in private. Save your sacrificial animal some dignity. Then clean the place up. Don't leave the animal's head and stomach to rot on the street. Then distribute the meat in the proper prescribend manner. Don't save the best parts for yourself. And most importantly, learn to be a little tolerant of others' point of views. If you like blood and gore, good for you. but there are a lot of people in the world who lose their appetite if their food is not clean and prepared in a decent fashion. You can't blame someone for caring about hygiene. .
So you obviously want to be invited to the US or some other western country? Right? Grow up
i am feeling .................................
Dear Saad Zuberi I will accept your logic, if you confess to be an absolute vegetarian. If not, then, you are just trying to score a point as a self proclaimed enlightened modernist
@FAZ: dear Faz ,i would love to correct you. we need protiens and not meat. amino acids in daal and rice or kheer give us enoough protiens to survive.
@Abdullah Arif: treating animals badly and also eating too much meat is bad and we will be punished for that. the punishment is already can be seen in the forms of cancers.
It amazing how this modernization has made us over sensitive towards the animals and insensitive towards humans ...
@Humaira: islam is not cruel but muslims can be like any other race.
@ antanu g
i simply said that Vegetarianism is more civilised than slaughtering and eating flesh. Never criticised any religion. Pl read my statement clearly.
@zalim singh: i am a bengali....and routinely witness the sacrifice rituals at goddess kali temples...what us this? easy to criticize other's riligious rituals
@karajan: u r idiot....... dnt u dare take false steps
@nikhat: Nikhat, you do have the right to air your personal opinion, fair enough. But I would humbly request you to exercise restrain while commenting on subjects about which, you have a little knowledge. Qurbani is not a 'ritual'. In fact in Islam there is no ritual. If you are mixing it up with Islamic tradition, then it is sad. I cannot comment on your upbringing, because I donot know your background. But please read about ' Baqraeid' as you choose to call it in detail. Islam is a logical religion and there is no ritual. Probably, you are more in contact with people following rituals than God's commands. To be vegetarian is good and you have the right to be one; nobody should ever have problem with that. There are millions of animals' right suppporters across the world. I am one of them. But in my opinion our protest should only be limited to ill treatment of animals, NOT against their legal slaughter, specially for religious purposes.
Purpose of Eid.
1) Remembrance of Sunnat-e-Ibrahim - Muslim Sacrifice the animal in remembrance of Hazrat Ibrahim (A.S) great sacrifice. - Person should remember that the Qurbani is a sacrifice of ones money , love for the ALLAH. - People do argue with me . if you want to show love to ALLAH , why not wake up early in the morning, start caring for poor. be more poious. but i ask them , that is you have to be either you are doing the sacrificing or not. dont compare one deed with another. how many of us has the courage to go and slaughter our only son for the ALLAH as prophet ibrahim at that time only had one son Ismail (A.S.). - one should slaughter with his own hand so he his heart and mind can become more strong. and remember that while sacrificing the animal that prophet Ibrahim (A.S.) sacrifice his own son for the love of GOD. 2) Sacrifice and Brotherhood - we have love for the money but when we sacrifice an animal , we look for a better animal cause there are 3 parts to it. 1/3 for one self. 1/3 for relative and 1/3 for the poor. a person seeking a good animal will give good meat to the deserving people. - to give the deserving people right to good food and also the hide of the animal should go only to the poor. - only eligible on sahib-e-nisaab. so those people who cant pay zakat , cannot sacrifice an animal and we should provide the meat to these people who are our relatives and love ones. - plus it is one duty to clean the place. - and if you have meat and you want to invite your love ones for dinner or bar.b.que there is no haram in it. it is always good to invite people and have feast and spread love between your friends and family
i will not call you anything but a person with short sightedness and illiterate. you might have studied in the university but it has close your mind rather than opening it. be liberal and start understanding the values before opening your mouth
@nikhat: Less people die of heart problems and cancers in the world caused by meat and dairy products, more die of AIDS, MALARIA,ACCIDENTS,AND WARS,so dont worry meat is not our real enemy,In america in a single chrismas day, in all the states, more than 2000 people die of accidents, they are not vegetarians .Eat everything available except haram but burn it.
this article should be "closed for comments" now. but the thing is that we have gone to far from the real topic and it seems we are on a battle field just for animals.in fact this is purely a muslim matter and ritual but we can see that every DICK AND HARRY thought it their religious right to interfere in our matter.Ofcourse mostly we in Pakistan dont know what precautions should be taken before qurbqni. It should be in acoverd area not at the doorstep of every homes,not on streets,in an allocated area, and finally every muslims should know that qurbani is not a festival or contest, or showing off something. So have your happy Eid meal
@Raza Shah: v true...
@nikhat: When you will eat all the "GREENS" what would be left for animals.
oh for the love of god people... i hardly think saad wrote this with hate for eid or the tradition of qurbani in mind. he (just like me and millions of people around the world who also eat meat) is simply irked by the gore and the blood and the callousness some of us do qurbani with.
why have you all turned a funny short article into such a serious debate. go out and enjoy eid with your bakras and cows and meat if you're all such big fans! why are you wasting this beautiful holiday indoors fighting on a website!?!?!
dear meat eaters, we can not change your mind but i am glad that the author did try to wake us up.welldone Saad. also would request you to go and research what meat and animal products are doing to our bodies. cancers , heart diseases and illnesses are all linked to alcohol, smoking and animal products. if u love your kids, then dont eat soooooooooooooo much meat. be kind to animals and to yourself too. no more debate from me. best wishes
@SalSal:
Try doing this to your Son/ Daughter / Mother / father / Husband / Wife. And ask them Whether was that Painful ?? I think a knowledgable person would understan this..
@Raza Shah:
You are mistaken Lady. He might have written the article with grammatical or other mistakes. But he has written this with a PURE HEART. He would be more closer to Allah for he has decided to save the creatures of Allah, While we sacrifice His creatures to Him. Shame on Me !! Shame on all of us !! Dear Saadbhai I will also give up his practice from this moment itself. Thanks for Enlightening me with your knowledge.
@nikhat: You are not enlightened, you are in a illusion! Meat is halal, and it is in some amount, essential for your body. Go and ask any nutritionist. The problem is when you overdo something. If you read through the the lifestyle of our Prophet (SAWW) you would find a perfect balanced diet that included all grains, vegetables, milk as well as meat. The problem starts when u fill up your deep freezers with meat and eat full bellies of BBQ and stuff for days and days! There is a saying in punjabi "I am tired of eating but still not full". With such kind of mentality not only u would end up in a hospital soon but on a large socio economic scale u would create an imbalance in the society where the rich would be sick of eating while the poor would be malnourished! I hope u got my point
Zuberi and ET,
You just wasted 8 mins of my life!
Your neighborhood has greater problems than muslims slaughtering animals on Eid ul Adha. Wake up, smell the coffee and look around 'son!
Being a muslim please read the guidance regarding Baqr Eid (Eid-ul- Azha) then comment. Im proud to be a muslim and i dearly respect the act of sacrificing animals in the name of Allah.
Rest whatever ppl say against this, is all child stuff. Kindly google it rather searching porn and valentine gifts.
Saad , Very good effort to give voice to the voiceless including the animals. KEEP IT UP .
I totally disagree with your blog, except for maybe a couple of points.
We'd be better off if over-excited residents decided to sacrifice animals in their own houses, rather than the damn main road. If you don't have space in your own house, get it done at someone elses house, not private friking property!
Also, people need to stop buying animals just for the sake of flaunting their wealth. I don't see the need to import livestock from Australia and New Zealand, when for the same amount of money, you could get way more animals and meat!
Our society has ruined the true spirit of Eid.
Well said....I cannot digest this mass throat-cutting festival. When you cut the throats of other mammals, it becomes easy to cut the throats of humans. The irony is- the husbands cut the throats, their wives mop up the blood and their children watch, learn and get desensitised to throat-cutting. No wonder our society has so much violence and blood-lust.
@Fareed: i think the writer is more close to religion and god . you are away as you can not think that animals are also living being. how would you feelif someone stronger than you ,kill you .also think care fully many peopel in some countries are being killed for whatever reason by strong and powerful. they might think they are right in killing them .
@Vicky: like your comment Vicky. people are always scared of new things,like for eg science. in olden days they called witches to women who were knowledgable. i am proud of the writer who has started this ROSHNI to educate the people.if jews,christians, hindus do something cruel why should we copy them.anyways western people are more kinder to animals then eastern.
@Atheist: thats bad too.
@karajan: like it karajan. when will our people learn.
@D: i dont eat animals and proud of it. allah has given me the kindness and enlightened me. when there are other options like eating green chlorophyll,why on earth i eat an unhealthy diet. you keep on eating animals and in return they will curse you and u will end up having cancers and cardiovascular diseases as meat and dairy product are the cause of it.good luck.
And I thought some people were going nuts over hardees!
@Imran Mohammad: The criterion is a foreign degree, label of an expensive institution attached to your name, anything which is novel and would arouse public fury and reaction, resulting in more and more people hitting the Tribune link, and lastly, any piece of writing which can satiate the liberal viewpoint.
It was nauseating discussion. Faithfuls defending brutal display of violence with so many oft repeated logic. KFC appeared also every other post. In west slaughterhouses follow a set a norm and are isolated also mostly mechanized. The experience is much less traumatic for animal as well as the consumer. Also, it is not sanctioned by religion.
Driven by curiosity I visited a few upload on youtube where folks were struggling to ties cows and oxen and then slit animals throat in most disgusting manner, mostly in front of their houses. Most of you think your religion sanctions that brutality. I am not a faint hearted yet I think its gross. I would avoid doing that in front of my house for sake of well being of my family and neighbors.
I am sure it wont make much sense to faithfuls and that OK.
i feel that ppl write articles like these these to get attention and so far u have succeeded. Btw totally nonsense article i dont know why its even here
There are only 2 reasons for not believing or to practise what has been offered to us as a "GIFT".
1 - You're not a Muslim 2 - You're still a kid and decided not to grow. In that case, you need spanking...
Dude, its not a joke. You need to understand the basics of our religion and you must admire the fact that at the right time, "DUMBA" was given to prophet for qurbani otherwise it would be you getting butchered every year....
I wonder, how Christmas cherish your thoughts every year, or perhaps the wild alcohol parties... you must have 10 reasons to like them..
I am always very disappointed with such people who try hard to hold their fears behind reasoning. For me this is an incomplete topic and must specifiy that if you have 10 reasons not to like it then tell us how it should be done.....Of course...ur no different than any other who is also astrayed from the reality.
I would love to listen ten things you love
I disagree with your most points.
agree with u .
lets come to first point of consideration the writer is "saad" and writing this article means he is very far off from the true essence of religion. this is just a way of getting attention by mere presentation of religion of islam in a poor way. now lets come to fact: he must be knowing that writing this kind of article will draw a lot of attention so let me say this tradition of islam is continuing before this chap was born and i m proud to be an indian muslim to admit that India is the only country in the world which gives right to preach, promote and propogate one's own religion { acc. to indian constitution} and we muslims are so obedient that we cannot neglect the word of the Almighty GOD whether one feels good or bad about it.
@Saad Zuberi; Good to see that someone has courage to question a cruel tradition.
Becoming a vegetarian for a couple of weeks after freaking out at the sight of above-mentioned blood. Ha Ha! I thought i was the only one. Yup that happens with me as well. I can't eat meat for atleast one week. So i will be a vegetarian for one week starting from today.
@ author My fellow Pakistanis didn't get your point. They think you are weak hearted or something. What they don't understand is that it all comes from feeling someone's pain no matter if it's an animal. I mean how dare you question that? :) No matter how much we deny that, we do feel guilty about slaughtering an animal.
@ fellow Pakistanis Atleast don't show so much glee on slaughtering an animal. The writer is asking to show some sensitivity if you guys have any.
@Gopi Shankar: ohk now you want to put animals into starvation?or move them to jungles? then ultimately they will be killed...what is point?and you are thinking about the animals who are made for humans...but you are not giving solution or alternative to billion+ people who directly or indirectly earns through it? what you are saying is just myth not reality and nor practical...even if possible then first arrange the alternate then advice others to be vegetarian...otherwise keep silence
@Jamshed: Jamshed, whether its turkey, chicken, beef,mutton or pork, it allcomes under animal cruelty. Meat eaters willjustify the killings in the name of religion--- again misusing the religion. Our dear Prophet was kind to animals so why can not we?
Yeah as if you don't eat those huge hamburgers from McDonalds, Burger king etc etc. What do you think those burgers are made of? Grass? :)
@ Salman Malik
Perhaps you need to go back and do some serious reading. If anything, its animal farming that’s causing food shortages globally. Nearly 70% of all the food grain that’s grown in the US (the world’s largest food producer) and 40% of all the food grains grown globally are fed to animals to fatten them to feed humans. If humans consumed all this food direct, we wouldn’t have malnutrition and starvation anywhere. Not just that, animal farming is responsible for 18% of the global greenhouse gas emission. That is the second largest contributing factor after power generation. Vehicle emission or transport contributes just 13% of the emissions. More recent studies suggest that nearly 51% of the GHG emissions come from animal farming, making it the single most important contributing factor for climate change. And you don’t have to look far for consequences. You had the most unprecedented flooding recently.
Lot of fallacious arguments in your posting…won’t even bother answering all of them.
Wasn't the 10-thing-i-hate section supposed to be a funny, easy-read section with no serious implications??
Then why is everyone's kincker in a knot here? What is wrong with you people? Are you really that bored with life? If you don't agree with something that isn't asking to be agreed with to begin with, please just move on. I'm sure the writer is having a good laugh somewhere because you've ALL just helped prove him right! We as a nation can't do anything in a decent fashion!
LOL @ undernourished midget cow! if nothing else, the writer deserves an accolade for good use of words and description... I totally get what you're saying!
Hats off to you Saad, this is a wonderful article and a daring one. Being a vegetarian myself, this Eid is particuarly disgusting and the way the masses take toll on innocent life by conveniently distorting the message of sacrifice in Ibraheem's story. And your writing style is pretty cool!
@Jamshed
Thats a good one!
I bet you love mcdonalds! what do you think their burgers are made of? Grass? :)
@M Ali Khan:
I really like the Way you described in one line
erhhh!!! i hate the way they qurban bakra on street and after that people don't even clean the mess.. i want kasab khana in karachi like dubai :)
Dude, stop doing the "mass murder". I am pretty sure how you feel about it doesn't make God happy either.
It is alright to celebrate Eid It is alright to sacrifice animals on Eid day It is alright to eat meat (if your religion allows) It is alright to slaughter animals in the world all year
It is NOT OK to make a spectacle of Eid It is NOT OK to kill animals in front of a large audience It is NOT OK to make a video and put it on You tube for the whole world to see. It is NOT OK to make your whole city filthy with rotting animal waste and blood everywhere.
Finally it is HORRENDOUS to encourage children to watch and take part in this ritual.
God wanted us to sacrifice an animal in remembrance for the sacrifice our prophet made for his son. We have made it into a circus for killing large animals for our entertainment. May God help us.
@ Author ..... TOUGHEN UP PRINCES!!!!
WOW dude, you don't feel bad when you are eating chicken beef or some kind of meat? Whether its bakra eid or not both ways, animals get killed and are eaten by us humans, same thing na? Then why trying to become so cool? Your argument would only make sense if you were a vegetarian, IF YOU ARE NOT A VEGETARIAN THEN YOUR ARGUMENT IS ABSOLUTELY NONSENSE.
May Allah bless everyone who agrees with Saad Zuberi. Fantastic article thanks for keeping the flame of 'Insaaniyat' alive in this troubled world.
Just google 'muslim reverts' and you'l inshaAllah see those are the people of wisdom
Absolutely amazing!
Whatever the content of the article, which itself has a lot of weight, your COURAGE is more appreciable than anybody's "noble" intentions of sacrificing meat.
@Yas Has: spending money on shadis is also a Sin.shadi should be very simple. islam EMPHASIS on simplicity. sacrificing animals outside hajj is not Farz. why cant you give this bakra money to someone who can spend it whereever he/she likes. basically you can not give up meat. accept it. and people who enjoy seeing animals being sacrificed are the dumb ones. no decent person likes to see death with enjoyment.
@Hardesh: You have a reason to say that and we muslims should respect your beliefs.But what about them!
@nikhat: Loser stop eating then and Get some cholorophyll injected so you may grow by photosynthesis
@Mumbaikar: What about the brutal bull fighting "entertainment", in Spain?. in the name of game. what we do here needs courage,its not a cowaring , but a many job.not for every one.
@Manoj: its not organized and "mass murdering" it looks so.y ?because Muslim do this on their religious festival and every1 gets the idea of mass killing of animals otherwise do you know how much "ONLY" KFC slaughter animals "only" in one day?can you imagine and vegetarians don't make cry? and only rich(defined by Islam sacrifice not poor) sacrifice and 1/3 of meat and skins go to poor and needy...but rich Muslims are minority as compare to non Muslim rich who enjoy meat at KFC McDonald and others..Muslim don't consume too much meat as compare to them...and yes rich Muslim (defined by Islam) also pay 2.5% of their annual saving wealth(Gold,silver,asssets other than house) every year on Eid-Ul Fitr (after Ramzan) and only poor get it...that's also compulsory...
Worth repeating again. "How some parents think watching Jackie Chan act like a nincompoop in a movie is bad influence for their kids, but watching four blood-soaked men brutally attack, slaughter, skin and butcher an 800 pound cow — live — is healthy entertainment."
Well, majority of the people do give 1/3rd part of the meat to the poor people and also donate the skins to charities. You are just talking about a small rich minority.
@Kareem Khan: And have you ever wondered why the goats are not extinct? Despite the fact that these are being sacrifice from thousands of years. The reason is very simple. God created these sacrificial animals. And again its the God who ordered to sacrifice these. So its no genocide. Rather its a healthy economical and commercial activity and hundreds of thousand people earn their bread and butter from this trade. From those who breed these animals, feed them, sale them, transport them, slaughter them, process their hides, make finished goods from the hides, export these goods and the list goes on.
And by the way, besides Eid, millions of animals are slaughtered throughout the years and we all very happily eat their meat visiting KFCs, McDonald and the like. But when it comes to sacrificing in the name of God and fulfilling the Sunnah of Hazrat Ibrahem all liberals feel a pinch in their hearts.
@karajan: Well I have travelled to many countries as well, and most people think Pakistanis are the most good looking and fit people in Asia.
i highly agree with the writer . . . i wil agree that these rich ppl who do sacrifice cant collectively make a particular place in every area so that their will b no public display of slaughtering . . .plua i wud like to mention one thing and that is while doin this slaughtering children r also present for sight seeing which wil not b beneficial and will pose a negative impact on their mentality . . . in west one shud always observe the dignity of animal sacrifice and restrain their children from watching live violence . . . please see that some of sensitive children will try to do the same act with their brothers or sisters and they also make a "kasai game" with other children that mite result in disasters as one wud use actual knife instead of a toy and will slaughter the other . . . i hope ppl will agreee , ,,
Nero, Google and you will find more explanations for using coconuts in pujas.
Also, this article and discussion is about Baqr Eid - please leave other religions out of it. Thanks.
PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals
Nero, please don't make stuff up. If you aren't Hindu, don't speak for them. Breaking a coconut has nothing to do with skulls. It's done because it's considered the purest thing you can offer since the water and coconut inside is covered by a hard kernel and thus unpolluted by the environment. Please read up before posting stuff that makes the Vedic faith look barbaric.
Saad, it's good to see someone questioning barbaric pre-historic rituals of one's faith. It takes courage. Bravo!
Honestly wrote a good point by point counter-argument reply earlier to the article's 10 reasons. Wish ET had published that comment, as I had put some time into it. Perhaps it was long or boring and sidelined in favour for more emotional charged comments. Controversy sells, I guess. Regardless, Eid Mubarak to everyone...hope that greeting doesn't annoy the anti-Eid sulkers.
Dear Saad at point 6: If you never had seen blood in your life then you would have freaked out the moment any thing real happened in your life, like a major cut or an accident (God forbid) Thanks to your "muslim" tradition, that wont happen i guess!
@salman malik:
Your all points are accepted, and it is not the question of Hindu and Muslim ritual. In the both the religion sacrifice is part and partial of the ritual. But important question which arises out of such ritual is the mass and organized killing of million of animals in one or two day in full public view.
The purpose of sacrifice was to reaffirm our dedication to God by sacrificing the most loved or valuable to God. In those days when this practice started, animal was the most valuable property of human being and by sacrificing animal they used to show the God that how deeply he loves him. But now in 21st Century in my opinion, their are many more valuable article people poses like money, Gold, grain etc. Why can not we donate these valuable article to prove ourselves a better Hindu or muslim.
u cant question Allah's command if u r a true muslim wid a strong faith!!!
Except for point no.8 all is just crap. Somehow all of a sudden it's okay to celebrate Halloween but you have problems with your own traditions...interesting indeed! :S
man u cant question after God has said something and u must agree upon it if you have a strong faith!!!!
@nikhat: yes you can be 100% Muslim being vegetarian ..because it is optional not compulsory to eat meat but qurbani is compulsory...you are not more humble and kind and wis more than Allah and Rasool SAW..if Prophet can tell us how to walk and how to talk and how to wash yourself then surely he would have stopped us eating meat but he and Allah didn't stop it but order it
@Ikramuddin Akbar: I did not mean to demean any religious belief. What I wanted to say was that the animals also feel pain and its not good to kill poor animals. Secondly, you are correct about "BALI" in Hindu religion but with time this tradition has been replaced by COCONUT BREAKING as a substitute, thus saving the lives of innocent animals. Isn't that great !!! And please think the meaning of SACRIFICE. SACRIFICE is giving up some prized possession. For eg, a soldier giving up his life for the country, or a woman giving up a career for raising children. When you slaughter an animal, how can that be sacrifice by you? The pain was felt by the animal, not you!!!
@karajan: your comment is not answer to my questions
@abhi: this comment was edited....remaining of my comment, whatever ET published....obviously i believed...are you ready to take care animals for free?and how much? or ready to send them to jungles to be killed by other animals?do you have state where you will create billions of jobs for dairy farmers and shopkeepers and industry workers ?and one more thing if you don't eat meat,believe me,if you break your natural canine teeth you will still survive why you don't do this?y you need them?will you provide vegetables to these animals and will you fulfill the increasing demand of vegetables?what about shoe and jackets you wear?do you know Africans are suffering food shortage and in next 3 days only Saudi government will send tons of meat to feed them ohk stop them and send vegetables for poor Africans to survive...
Amazing Article ! I feel the same way about Eid-ul-Adha. The genocidal rage against goats is frightening !
@Nero: Nero ,think twice before saying anything, this is not your problem, you keep your cows away from the reach of Muslims there ( and it will be ok in India if Muslims stop sacrificing cow,to save a hundred lives in lie of one slaughtering) but dont interfere in our religious matter, can i ask you what your one of the lady gods is holding in her hand,isn't it a head of a slain man, and what is the concept of "BALI "in your religion ,i have seen most hindu nepalese to slaughter goats with a"brutal "jhatka", does it make happy to your gods.We dont sacrifice animals to make Allah happy, we do it as a symbol,i cant explain you here and i don't feel it necessary too.Thousands of Mumbai restaurants are making mutton and beaf biryanis that your people are consuming day and night.Isn't a fish alive in water,with blood and flesh,before you cought them ,that you eat,isn't that flesh. Dont fool anyone giving example of coconut,we dont believe in deceiving, in sacrifice,only living things could be sacrificed and what could be better than an animal,or do you suggest something?
Bashing and hating everything that is in, is a new COOL.
@Salman:
While I share the same annoyance with you on some of the topics and poor argued articles on ET, such as this, cannot agree with this philosophy.
Will never gain knowledge or progress by not applying critical thinking and analysis, including questioning our traditions and beliefs, which may actually be ideologically incorrect due to changes over time too. Every person of every religious background can then claim the same cop out and weak reasoning to continue doing ignorant or wrongful practices.
This is the same weak indoctrinated reasoning that was employed by Israrullah Zehri who justified the brutal honour killings of 4 family women as 'tradition'.
The reason of this article is simple actually: The author hasn't received his Eidi.
I am almost about to stop my subscription to ET as well as stop coming to this website.
As a MUSLIM, these are our traditions and our beliefs. If you start questioning them, where do you go next?
Articles on homosexuality and against our beliefs are put up immediately but you disallow quoting from the Quran. Why is that so?
Poor effort..
What a baseless and insane comments from people for the sensible author who tried to create awareness. I really do not understand what kind of sacrifice is this, spending few bucks and slaughtering the weaker ones is sacrifice... Wow!
@Plagiarism Sucks: Thank You!!!!!!
I am very much disappointed over ET criteria. I am starting to doubt the integrity of ET. Majority of the religious articles / blog-posts are on the topics that have been clearly defined in our BOOK. Why I said BOOK, and not its name, the guidelines of posting at ET depict that there should not be any reference to a religious book.
Seriously guys???? How typical (and frankly, annoying) of your hypersensitive selves to get offended for no big reason. It's ok to talk about anything here but God forbid anybody ever brings up the bitter truth we all abide by. It's amazing how Muslims consider these things a personal attack and will wreak havoc but won't shy away from saying the same about other 'inferior' faiths. Please, learn to respect other people's opinions and thoughts, believe it or not, they're as important as your own!
Even an anti-Eid rant could have been in better taste.
If you had read Quran with translation, you would Not have used the word Mass Murdering
@Yas Has: wonderful! great comments, not only for hajj but some times ago when the poor,old, sick, male female were dying making line at stores facing brutality of police to get a sack of flour and some "chini" , those who rant now being champion of humanity and scolding religious rituals were in hiding.If only all Muslims in Pakistan generously and honestly submit their zakat, i bet their would be no one called poor here,and will not suicide being not able to provide their children, even prostitution will be eliminated.
Look at the bright side. These animals would be slaughtered for food anyway. They are blessed to be slaughtered on the day of Eid. I do agree with your last point though - there's a lot of shameless showing off ("kitne ka mila?") and wastage of the food, the essence of Eid is to share the sacrifice with those who deserve it (i.e. the poor who can't afford it).
I could have written this article bravo!
PETA and GLAAD approve of this.
@salman malik: Excellent Reply.
Its not a suitable time to tell people what you hate about. Its time to tell what you love about eid. As far hating Eid is concerned we have enough non-muslims to do this job.
I'm scared.
@salman malik:
Agree absolutely with the writer of this article regarding the ghoulish pleasure that very many Pakistanis get in slaughtering animals.
The basic idea of sacrifice over Bakr Eid is to help people in need, not to stuff one’s own & one’s relatives’ collective stomachs with meat.
I do believe (and practice) in donating money to reputable charitable organizations, rather than slaughtering animals & then making a glutton of myself.
It is a pity that the Pakistan psyche allows only two pleasures in it’s interpretation of Islam:
- Eating ; - Getting married & then producing kids.Travel abroad frequently & can honestly say that in very few countries are men & women so physically hideous looking as our average Pakistani; who specializes in developing a hanging belly before age thirty.
We all eat meat, chicken and turkeys. Millions of animals are slaughtered every day. The problem arises when we make a spectacle of the event. Neighbours are invited for the slaughter of a particularly large cow. If a camel is slaughtered the road is blocked, traffic is diverted and there could be close to a thousand spectators making videos of the event.
This is 100% wrong. This is not what Allah meant when he told the prophet to sacrifice his son. Eid ul Azha can be celebrated like the rest of the Muslim world. Slaughtering of the animals is done in designated areas. Not house-to-house. We should celebrate Eid not make it a circus for slaughtering animals. Perhaps one day the Pakistani people will learn.
Some people are trying to become 'GAUTAM BODH", explaining that they are very mild hearted creatures on this planet. For them my advice is that they should go to India and sit under a banyan tree, and make animals their friends .This is Pakistan and we like to eat meat this way,any problem? "APNI APNI SAMBHALO"
http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2009/10/20/launch-of-islamic-animal-rights-site.aspx
how can there willbe animal rights in Pakistan when we don't have human rights. i am surprised that majority of youth are in favour of old rituals like qurbani. i just had my Baqraeid breakfast-------- caulifower pancakes with tofu cheese . much better than sickening meat. a 100% muslim girl
"to make merry at the idea of murdering a few hundred thousand animals." Murdering? That says it all. Do you have any idea how many million animals are 'murdered' for Hardees, McDonalds, KFC, etc etc?
"Liberal Fascist" is as correct a term as "Halal Pork"
After reading this, I think tribune is not for a common man.
@salman malik Do you really believe in the logic that you have posted?
Very annoying and hallow article.
do write of easter, diwali and xmas also, I am sure you will find faults in easter bunnies and chimney socks...
These are festivals, live them up, you sure have had some very dull Eids.. Enjoy these moments in liffe and try to understand the spirit of sacrifice
What a load of rubbish. So much negativity. Bakra Eid is the best festival ever, I slaughter the goat myself, its so much fun. Then mom making Kaleji, amazing. Very sad to see ET let publish this piece of hatred.
when u going to write .. 10 things about slaughtering million of turkey's for Christmas party?.. or do u mean we should start thanks giving ritual for this eid?
Dear ET, would you allow me the freedom to practice my religion, please? If the answer is yes, then kindly don't go off limits in telling me that how much an individual hates about my religious ritual. Those individuals who can't write few hundred words with coherence of thought, you're providing them a platform to incite hate.
Initially, Mr. Zuberi states adamantly, "Call me an infidel, but I just can’t bring myself to make merry at the idea of mass murdering a few hundred thousand cute, furry, unsuspecting farm animals"
Then he laments rather disdainfully: "How the true essence of the tradition is lost on most of us"
If you can't have respect for the tradition itself and you name it "mass murdering" then stay firm on your stance rather than sermonizing others about its true essence.
haha, for the longest time I thought a girl wrote this article! What is wrong with your brother?
Truly shocked to see such a baseless article in express tribune. Qurbani of animals is a commandment of Allah SWT, so do it with true intention. No questions asked. Whatever happened to 'sami'naa wa ata'naa'? We, as Muslims, follow Allah,s commandments without asking for any sort of logic. Nothing can replace the act of qurbani, so let's not try to be holier than the pope. Remember, 'sami'naa wa ata'naa'. May Allah give us the wisdom and courage for that and may He accept our qurbani.
@nikhat: why do we only see religious things when it comes down to poverty alleviation and helping the needy? Have you ever thought that people like yourselves say the exact same thing when one plans and saves to go for Hajj. Why can't we cut down on other lavish expenses such as the millions we waste on shadis?? And donate that amount to the poor. This mindset of yours needs to be seriously altered! We as a nation are going down because of such mindsets, pardon me.
@ Saad Zuberi
great article. But pl take care. Nobody in Pakistan will appreciate your beliefs. Being vegetarian is a very environmentallly friendly habit. Each KG of meat requires tons of green vegetation, which increases global warming, when indiscriminately practiced. Any idea why Sindh is facing floods for the last few years and will continue to do so in future? It is because of de-forestation. Cutting down forests for wood and fuel. I do not want to make a bad statement here, but I will vouch for Vegetarianism any day. it is more civilised.
Lol the methods used in the West for killing animals is WORSE and painful !!! The way we do it is not painful at all !! Because the animal is unconscious the moment the knife slits the throat !!
i cant comment on the article....but i would like to ask all of you one qyestion....millions of animals are slaughtered across the globe on daily basis apart from on EID.however did anybody felt any shortage of animals? look at it this way...if this mass slaugher is not done...what will be the scenario? do the world will have enough space and fodder to cater the animals. So a relihious ritual has to be seen in this cpntext also...a kind of check and balance for greater good...the survival of human race
How can one, who eats the flesh of others to swell his flesh, show compassion?
TIRUVALLUVAR
What a nonsense article.. @ET, what are you standards for publishing articles?
Shame on you ET. This is disgusting in so many levels I dont even know where to begin.
Stop being silly.. If you are so much bothered about killing animals. Go become a vegetarian, You are a hypocrite if you still eat meat. Plus you don. have any problem in mass killing of plants every day. Just because they don. have a tongue, they can't speak, does it justify to kill them?
You must try to cut it yourself and perhaps you'll get over your fears. It's an amazing feeling :)
such confused, lame whining, like the steak n hamburger you look forward to is made from the meat the cows/goats gave away happily as organ donation ?
I'm a hindu, plus a proud Pakistani. I know I shouldn't be interfering in any person's personal religious issues, but I do agree with the fact that slaughtering animals in public, in front of children, and being proud that you've got more cows than the other or a taller more 'jaan-daar' animal than the other. DOESN'T MAKE SENSE !!! Rest I believe that at times people do like to enjoy the Eid, no matter what ways they take towards it. HAPPYYYYY EID Everyone !!! :) ENJOY !!!!
The worst part is the Exhibition. I am now totally against Door-to-door qurbani. The whole world is watching how barbaric the Pakistanis are...on Youtube.
I hate Bakra eid because lots of animals are sacrificed in publicly displayed, talked and insensitive manner with the actual point of sacrifice being lost somewhere beneath the feasting.
umm thats 1 point.
i like your article Saad. I agree with you. Do we really think that Allah needs meat and blood like other ancient gods. Can't we collect all that money and distribute to poor people? we can eliminate poverty to some extent by doing this. Also honestly speaking do we distribute the meat fairly among the poors? and by the way why can't we become vegetarian and healthy as all this meat and animal products are linked to cancer , cardiovascular and other diseases.
thumbs up....it mass extermination of animals....!
@WhoWasThatMaskedMan:
True that.
@Saad:
You remind me of some of my "liberal friends" who think that by being cynical about everything makes them look cool/liberal. Reality check: It doesn't.
I'd have enjoyed reading your article if it made sense, but you are no different than a bitter 70 year old man, who failed at life and took his frustration out on everything.
and what are the 10 things you like about valentines day?
Where is PETA? We need you?
LOL @ Hamburger; dude are you sick or something ? kindly google Hamburger before mentioning it here; no doubt you do not have any respect for the Ritual because you never knew the essence of it. I must agree with the public "Sacrifice" (Its not genocide or slaughtering) that it should be held in controlled environment.
Thumbs up for rest! :)
@point no. 2 It doesn't really make sense. Daily thousands of animals cows, goats, lambs, pigs are slaughtered. On any other day, does an idea of beef steak not make you happy, eh.
Saad, You truly have missed out on the essence of Eid-ul-Adha. I'd suggesting refreshing your bonds with tradition to grasp once more the essence and the unity of this day.
Of all the "10 things I hate about" couldve been this week, why this was chosen is personally beyond comprehension.
TRUST ME when I say this: I COULDN'T AGREE MORE.
Man up dude!