Pre-islamic Age of Ignorance: Human Sacrifice: The fact that Abdulmuttalib, the grandfather of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), had devoted himself to sacrificing one of his ten sons for Allah near the Ka’bah when he was old enough to protect himself because of the difficulties he encountered with the Quraysh during the digging of the well of Zamzam, is an evidence of the existence of human sacrifice in the ignorant customs. As is known, after this wish was fulfilled, Abdulmuttalib attempted to fulfil his vow when the lot was drawn for Abdullah, the father of the Prophet, but the Quraysh prevented him, fearing that such a custom would become established. Afterwards, 100 camels were sacrificed in Abdullah’s place.[660]

It is also recorded that a human or a camel was offered to the Morning Star during this period. It is probable that the Sabians (Star worshippers) were the ones who did this. Wellhausen[661] suggests that during the Jahiliyyah period, boys, girls and captives were sacrificed to al-Uzzâ.[662]

Sacrifice to Idols During the Jahiliyyah period, sacrifices were offered to idols. A large share of these sacrifices was reserved for minor deities. The verse explains this fact as follows: They allotted to Allah a limited share from the crops and animals created by Him. They say, “This is Allah’s share and this is the share of the partners whom we associate with Him”. But the share of their partners does not go to Allah, while Allah’s share goes to them. How evil are their judgements.[663]

The people of Jahiliyyah also sacrificed at the graves. They would slaughter a camel at the grave of a good person and say, “We are rewarding him for what he did in the world.” However, the Jahiliyyah Arabs believed that making sacrifices to minor deities was pleasing to Allah and that these deities would intercede for the sacrificer in the presence of Allah.[664]

ISLAM: The information that has come down to us concerning the offerings of the children of Adam (a.s.) shows that sacrifice or offering sacrifices began with the first human being. Allah (swt) says: O Muhammad, tell them the true story of the two sons of Adam. The two of them offered sacrifices and the sacrifice of one of them was accepted and that of the other was not accepted. When the one whose sacrifice was not accepted said to his brother, “I swear that I will kill you,” the other brother said, “Allah accepts only the worship of the pious. If you stretch out your hand towards me with the intention of killing me, I will not stretch out my hand towards you with the intention of killing you. Because I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I wish that you should be among the people of Hell, bearing your sin and my sin. This is the punishment of the oppressors. Nevertheless, the other brother succumbed to his passion and killed his brother and thus became one of the losers. Then Allah sent a crow to him to show him how to hide the dead body of his brother from the eyes. When the fratricide saw the crow digging in the earth, he said, “Woe is me, am I not as good as this crow and bury my brother’s dead body?” and then he became one of those who regretted what he had done.[665]Then people are informed that sacrifice is one of the signs of Allah’s religion. We have made it lawful for every nation to offer sacrifice on the animals that Allah has given them as sustenance, that they may remember His name. So your God is one God. So submit yourselves to Him alone. Give glad tidings to the humble! They are those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned, who are patient in the afflictions that befall them, who keep up the prayer and spend in the way of Allah out of what We have given them as sustenance. And We have made sacrificial cattle a sign of Allah’s religion for you, and there is good in them for you. When you sacrifice them (when you sacrifice them), mention the name of Allah over them. And when they fall on their sides and their souls are gone, eat of them, and feed them to the poor who does not want them and to the poor who has to ask for them. Thus have We given them to your service so that you may be grateful. Their flesh and blood never reaches Allah. But your taqwa (refraining from disobeying Allah) reaches Him. So He gave them to your service so that you may honour Allah for showing you the right path. Give glad tidings to those who do good. Verily, Allah defends those who believe. Indeed, Allah loves no traitor, no ungrateful person.[666]

As of today, the worship of sacrifice, which is performed during the pilgrimage season and communicated by the Prophet as a religious obligation, is based on the incident that took place between Prophet Ibrahim (a.s) and his son. The Holy Qur’an reports this event as follows: So when (the child) reached the age when he could run beside him (Ibrahim said to him): “My son” he said. “Indeed, I saw you being slaughtered in my dream. See what you think.” (His son Ishmael) said: “My father, do what you are commanded. Inshallah, you will find me of the patient ones.” At last both of them submitted (to Allah’s command and Providence) and (his father) laid Ishmael on his forehead (to sacrifice him). We called out to him: “O Abraham”. Verily, thus do We reward those who do good.” Indeed, this was a clear test. And We gave him as a ransom a great sacrifice, and We left for him (a good and honourable name) among those who came after him. Peace be upon Ibrahim. Thus do We reward those who do good. Surely he is of Our servants who are believers.[667]

TODAY: In order to understand its importance and purpose well, we need to take a look at the time when the sacrifice was first performed. When Cain and Abel wanted the same girl, their father Adam (a.s.) got angry and said: “Go (both of you) and refer your judgements to Allah through sacrifice and be judged. Whichever of you whose sacrifice is accepted, he is more righteous.” So they slaughtered the sacrifices in Mina. That is why it has been the place where people slaughter their animals to this day. When Cain learnt that the sacrifice was not accepted, he refused to accept the judgement and killed his brother Abel.[668] Then Cain was unable to find a way to hide his brother whom he had killed. Thereupon Allah (swt) sent a crow which, as the verse states, was digging the earth. Cain realised his mistake. Since he could no longer go to his father, he took the girl with him and came to a valley in the Yemen valleys on the eastern side of Aden and hid there until his death.[667]

When this incident is analysed well, it is seen that when issues such as love of the world, sacrifice and judgement are not approached with moderation, consequences such as envy, death and regret follow one after another. An animal was sacrificed in order to be judged before Allah in order to decide on a worldly matter. Due to the envy caused by the dislike of the judgement, this event resulted in the sacrifice of another human being.

It is the same person who judges with Allah’s judgement in order to solve the issue and the same person who does not like the judgement and acts with the judgement of taghut, which is an evil thought. The envy that arises after the judgement of Taghut has given man the idea that it is right to kill even his own brother. The one who does all this is the owner of a mind that is incapable of hiding even a dead person in terms of knowledge. This is the mind and the intention of those who reason with Taghut. The judgements made in the Taghut systems, which do not have a haram-halalal line, cause people to continue their life in this world as miserable. They, like Cain, are incapable of knowing how to hide the dead body. There are even those who burn their dead, scatter the ashes, tie them to a raft and leave them in the sea, or embalm them in the belief of immortalisation. They are incapable of burying the human being in the ground, accepting the fact that “he lived, his sustenance ran out and he died”. Secular[669] logic, which is based on one-worldly life, cannot understand the wisdom of the rules introduced by Islam. Those who sacrifice only to feast themselves and those who criticise the animal without even knowing why it was slaughtered are of this kind. The ancestor of this mentality is Cain. People who do not see sacrifice as worship will start sacrificing their descendants with the intention of worship.

Today, there are many people who sacrifice innocent people for the sake of their own beliefs. When you look at the world from this point of view, you will see that societies that do not sacrifice are constantly engaged in human consumption. One of the main reasons why these people adopt other gods and slaughter humanity is that they do not sacrifice animals. Their savagery is also evident in their fondness for blood sports. Just as jihad is an act of defensive existence, sacrifice symbolises a formation that serves the purpose of not killing people. The formation of shirk is also characterised by the mechanism of disrupting the purpose of creation. If the human being, who is appointed as a caliph, does not use the existence in accordance with its creation, he sows the seeds of shirk with the unjust value given to the existence. This is the main rule no matter which being it is. This is the mind of the cow worshipper and the mind of the human worshipper. Ask them if they can remember that they are in reality a helpless creature made of a complex water…

This matter of kurbiyet[670] is a recurring act of worship that is presented to us so that we do not forget why we were created and why we were created. Sacrifice is a means of submission. In Islam, sacrifice is not required to be slaughtered in the name of Allah, but not in the name of anyone other than Allah. There are many sacrifices that are slaughtered with the intention of Allah’s name, but not for His sake, but for the sake and pleasure of some of His servants. Sacrifice is the greatest lesson given by animals that harbour lessons. These animals tell us the following with their behaviours, attitudes and lives:

While the earth and the sky and all that is in them and I am at your service, whom do you serve?

Or do you not see the seal of death on your foreheads and think that I am being killed because of the ring around my neck?

Some people, perhaps unknowingly, offer sacrifices to some tombs and shrines. The majority of those who do so act in the hope of intercession, as in the Jahiliyyah. They do not know that such actions do not serve to gain Allah’s consent. Let us learn the best answer to this issue from a hadith of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.).

Our Prophet (s.a.w.) says the following: Slaughtering animals at the grave after the dead has no place in Islam.[671]

In the dictionary, sacrifice, as a masdar derived from the Arabic root k-r-b, means “to approach spiritually, to be close, and as a noun derived from the same root, it means “the means that brings the servant closer to Allah”.

[660] Ibn Hisham, Sire, 1:160-164

[661] Islamic scholar Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918)

[662] Ali Osman Ateş, All Aspects of Islam in Asr-ı Saadet, Beyan Publications: Volume 2, p.52

[663] Surat al-Anam, Verse 136

[664] Nedvî, Asr-ı saadet (notification and instruction), I, 294

[665] Surat al-Ma’ida, Verses 27-31

[666] Surat al-Hajj, Verses 34-38

[667] Surah Saffat, Verses 102-111

[668] Ibn Kutayba, El maarif, Hasan Ege, Şelale publications p.20

[669] The Turkish Language Institute dictionary defines secularism as “worldism” and states that it is derived from the French word “sécularisme”. Again, the Turkish Language Institute defines “worldism” as follows: “a doctrine that considers individual participation important and advocates the separation and autonomy of religion from the state, secularism”

[670] Proximity, being spiritually close to Allah through faith and worship

[671] Abu Dawud, Sunan, funerals, objection to slaughtering animals at the grave, h. No. 3222; al-Baghawi, Sharh al-Sunna, funerals, chapter on feeding the relatives of the dead, vol. 5, p. 461