Islamabad: With Eid-ul-Azha round the
corner, some liberal Pakistanis are again trying to persuade
the faithful not to sacrifice an animal during the festival.
"Muslims have a duty both religiously and culturally to
evolve with scientific and moral progress. The meaning behind
Eid-ul-Azha will always stand, but in today's world, we must
look at things practically," wrote Bina Ahmed and Farah Khan
on goatmilkblog.com, a virtual hangout for Asian Muslims
settled in the West.
They argued that Muslims should take into consideration
"the undeniable cruelty involved in killing millions of God’s
creations, how environmentally damaging it is to raise animals
for food, how unhealthy meat is for human consumption, and the
lack of an actual requirement in Islam to eat meat".
They wrote: "Muslims, especially those of us that live in
the Western world, have a duty to end the animal sacrifice of
Eid-ul-Azha and replace our good intentions in other ways."
Last year, an animal activist organisation, which is now
almost defunct, had run a campaign asking people to "save" an
animal instead of "sacrificing it" after the devastating
floods that left over a million animals dead in Pakistan.
"Buy a goat - and this year, instead of sacrificing it,
send it back to a village to replace what was lost and help
people back onto their feet. Goats can provide an ongoing
income for families through the sale of milk, ghee, meat and
kids, as well as supplement their own diet and agriculture,"
was the appeal from the Karachi-based organisation.
Not many have taken kindly to the suggestion even as the
sale of "Billos" and "Lailas" is peaking at 'bakra mandis'
(goat markets) and in the virtual world.
But the liberals are sticking to their point.
"When it comes to Qurbani they turn into staunch
followers of Islam, and when it comes to selling cats, they
forget the teachings of Islam for their own financial gains,
what hypocrites these people are!" read a comment on an animal
rights' group's page on Facebook.
Two years ago, pakistaniat.com too encouraged the
faithful to celebrate the spirit of Islam and spare the
animals.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, October 30, 2011, 16:25