Symbolic Sacrifice

SYMBOLIC SACRIFICE The animal sacrifice performed during Hajj and Eid alAdha is, in fact, akin to devoting oneself to the divine mission at the level of sacrifice. It is, indeed, an external manifestation of an internal spirit. T he purpose of settling Hajar and Ishmael in the desert in such a manner was to produce a new generation. The urban settlements of that time were deeply entrenched in a polytheistic culture. Anyone born in that environment would inevitably be influenced by polytheistic beliefs. Consequently, understanding the message of monotheism was difficult for them. Hajar and Ishmael were settled according to a plan, in the remote desert, far away from civilized cities. This was done so that in the natural surroundings, their descendants could be raised, free from the influences of polytheism—a generation that would be entirely untainted by polytheistic conditioning. Through procreation generation after generation, this process continued until the nation of Ishmael came into existence. Within the same nation, in the year 570 CE, the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad ibn Abdullah