Did you know that qurban has always been practised since the beginning of time? even before it became obligatory in the second year of Hijrah. Since then, many of our prophets have practised the qurban. It’s all for Allah’s sake, maybe just the way they performed it differs from how we did ours as according to syaria.
Qurban teaches us to be empathy and sympathy towards others. Furthermore, sacrificing for the sake of Allah demonstrates one’s strong faith in Allah and shows that we are grateful for all of the blessings that He has bestowed upon us.
In addition, different period equals to different ways to perform sacrifice. So, how did qurban is performed in the times of our prophets?
1# Adam A.S.
The first ever qurban is done by the sons of our prophet Adam. It is the oldest qurban in all of human history not. InIt all began when Allah commanded Qabil to marry Habil’s twin, Lubuda, and Habil to marry Qabil’s twin, Iqlima.
However, Qabil objected to this decision, prompting the prophet Adam to instruct both of his sons to offer a sacrifice to Allah. Those who have made the best sacrifice will be given the right to choose his or her spouse.
As a shepherd, Habil presented the best sheep he has got as a sacrifice. Whereas Qabil, a farmer, offered some spoiled crops from his land. Allah accepted Habil’s sacrifice while rejected Qabil’s. We all know how this story leads to next, right?
Although it is not the same sacrificial ritual as to what we perform today, it is still a sacrifice made for the sake of Allah, similar to a ‘qurban.’
2# Nuh A.S.
Prophet Nuh A.S. has been preaching for almost 900 and not more than 80 people followed him. As a result, Nuh A.S. prays to Allah to punish his people. Allah SWT sends down heavy rain, which eventually turns into the Great Flood. Allah inspired Nuh A.S to build an ark ahead of time, and those who followed him, as well as all animals, are safe in the ark.
This is a brief story about the prophet Nuh A.S. After the Great Flood in the time of the prophet Nuh A.S., Nuh A.S. prepared a special place to perform a sacrifice or qurban. Other ‘riwayat’ (stories) state that the sacrificial animal is roasted over fire.
3# Ibrahim A.S
As we all know, in the time of prophet Ibrahim A.S is where the first ibadah of qurban took place. Ibrahim A.S. was commanded by Allah S.W.T to sacrifice his own son, prophet Ismail A.S to prove his uttermost submission and devotion to Allah S.W.T.
Ismail A.S. who knows that this is a duty and command from Allah S.W.T to his father, accepted it willingly. Just about when Ibrahim A.S about to carry the sacrifice, Allah S.W.T replaced his son with a ram. Therefore, prophet Ibrahim successfully passed the test given by Allah S.W.T remarkably.
This shows that qurban is an ibadah that significance the devotion and submission to Allah S.W.T while forsaking our ego and pride to dedicate ourselves in obeying the will of Allah. It is an ibadah that all of us, muslims have the perform every year in the month of Zulhijjah given our capability.
To sums it all up, qurban is something that has been done for ages since the beginning of time. It is not so different from the qurban in our time. It is all for the sake of Allah. Qurban is more than just sacrificing animals; sometimes we had to sacrifice something from ourselves, whether we like it or not, for the sake of others, but most importantly, for the sake of Allah first.
Plus, Islam prohibits its believers to perform sacrificial rituals, such as human sacrifice or worshipping the devil, and any other rituals that are related to it.
Therefore, Eid-ul-Adha is one of the time for us to get ourselves closer to Allah S.W.T while showing our full devotion and gratitude towards Him. Now is the chance for us to grab this opportunity.
