The Story Of Bakr Id – A Festival of Sacrifice
The History Of Bakr Id – The Festival Of Sacrifice
The festival of Bakr Id is one of the most important festivals celebrated within the Muslim community. The festival, which is also popular by the names of Id-ul-Zuha and Id-ul-Adha, falls on the 10th day of the Muslim calendar month of Zul-Hijja. This is the Id of sacrifice and it is customary for the Muslims to sacrifice a goat and offer prayers at the Mosque on this auspicious day. The spirit of sacrifice forms the essence of the celebrations and is evident even in the legend associated with the origin of the festival.
It is believed that once Hazrat Ibrahim, a true devotee of Allah, saw a dream, in which he received instructions from the Holy Lord himself to sacrifice the thing that he valued the most. After seeing the same dream repeatedly for several days, Hazrat Ibrahim, discussed about the same with his wife. After much pondering, the couple came to the conclusion that they would have to sacrifice their only son, Ismail, as he was definitely their most precious possession. Deciding thus, the couple went on to inform Ismail about their decision and seek his approval for the sacrifice. The young boy happily agreed to lay his life at the altar for Allah.
On the appointed day, Hazrat Ibrahim rose early along with his wife and son and the father and son left for a nearby hill, where Hazrat Ibrahim planned to make the sacrifice. Upon reaching the top of the hill, Hazrat Ibrahim, prepared a makeshift altar for the sacrifice and offered his prayers to Allah to accept his sacrifice. However, just as he put the sword on the throat of his son to sever off his head, a miracle happened. Hazrat Ismail disappeared all of a sudden and was replaced by a sheep. Soon a heavenly voice informed Hazrat Ibrahim that Allah had been testing the faith of his beloved devotee and he had passed the test with great honor.
The heavenly voice also informed Hazrat Ibrahim that he no longer needed to sacrifice his son, but sacrificing the sheep that had appeared in his place would suffice. This led to the beginning of the celebration of Bakr Id. There are set guidelines as the distribution of the meat of the scarified goat or sheep. The entire meat is to be divided into three parts, with the larger portion to be distributed amongst the poor and the needy and the other two equal portions to be distributed amongst friends and relatives!
Wish You all A Happy Bakr Id
Photo Credit- Pratik Adhikary
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