As we observe Eid el-Kabir
The Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) teaches that those that are able to make sacrifices on the occasion of the Eid el-Kabir should eat out of the meat and also give some portions of it to others. While some scholars fixed two-third (2/3) of the entire meat as the portion to be given out, others […]
The Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) teaches that those that are able to make sacrifices on the occasion of the Eid el-Kabir should eat out of the meat and also give some portions of it to others. While some scholars fixed two-third (2/3) of the entire meat as the portion to be given out, others opine that the proportion is not mandatory. The most important thing is that the person who made the sacrifice should eat out of it and give part of it as alms (Sadaqah). If giving fresh meat out as Sadaqah would be a burden to the recipient(s), it is preferred that the meat is roasted, fried or cooked before sharing it.
The reward promised by Allah (SWT) and not necessarily the quantity of the meat available for consumption should rather be the ultimate of every believer who offered the sacrifice. It is important to know that slaughtering a goat on the occasion of Eid el-Kabir has more reward than slaughtering a cow and even a camel.
In the Maliki School of Islamic jurisprudence, the reward for Dahiyyah (Layyah in Hausa) is according to the type of animal offered in the following order beginning from the preferred to the less preferred: un-castrated ram; then a castrated ram; then a sheep; followed by an un-castrated he-goat; then a castrated he-goat; then a she-goat; followed by a bull; then a cow; followed by a male camel; then a female camel. However, the reverse (in the order of preference) is the case for those on pilgrimage to Makkah because the object of sacrifice in hajj (called Hadyah) is to provide plenty of meat for the underprivileged. On the other hand, the intent of sacrifice at Eid el-Kabir in the case of Muslims who are not on pilgrimage is to taste and enjoy the best of meat. We wish all Muslims and indeed all Nigerians Happy Sallah!
Nigerian Pilgrims:
We give thanks to Allah (SWT) that the airlift of pilgrims from Nigeria to the holy land was completed on scheduled, precisely Saturday October 20, 2012; including the return of the female pilgrims who were deported from Saudi Arabia for lack of male guardians (Dhu Mahram or simply Mahram).
Nigerians have reacted in various ways to the deportation of Nigerian female pilgrims by Saudi authorities. While most comments as reported in the media were critical of Saudi government, the position of this column, as expressed on this page three weeks ago, sees the matter as “a case of rat and locust bean”. To further buttress this standpoint, it is relevant to re-tell part of the story I narrated on this page in the Weekly Trust edition of Saturday May 1, 2004 in a piece titled ‘In the name of religion?”.
The story is about some amazing experiences I witnessed when I went on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in May 1994. While walking along a street few meters away from the Prophet’s mosque in Madinah, a man who identified himself as a pilgrim from Kaduna State approached me and requested me to accompany him to a nearby office where pilgrims who had complaints were attended to. The man said he needed someone who could help interpret his complaints in Arabic at the office. I accepted and went with him.
The man’s complaint at the office was that his wife with whom she came from Nigeria for pilgrimage was missing. That, he had spent the past three days going from one hospital to another in search of his wife but could not find her. The man further explained, “My wife begged me several times before we left Nigeria that I should allow her remain in Saudi Arabia when the hajj exercise is over so that she could stay and return to Nigeria during the next hajj season in the following year. I refused to approve of her request because her friend had been an illegal migrant here. I consider her sudden disappearance as a deliberate attempt to perfect her plans”. A passport photograph of the woman was collected from the man by the officials who promised to search for her.
To me, it sounded too bizarre for a married woman to desert her husband in the course of a holy trip such as hajj. But, what could have compelled the woman to forsake her husband the way she did? It must have been for vicious reasons. Anyway, the man later told me that the woman actually paid for his hajj seat. May Allah (SWT) subdue the excessive taste of women who believe in doing anything to actualize their corrupt and materialistic tendencies, amin.
While we wish all pilgrims a blessed pilgrimage (Hajj Mabrur), it is our hope that NAHCON and States Pilgrims’ Boards officials would ensure strict compliance to the rules guiding the return of pilgrims to their home countries at the end of hajj exercise. If it is a law that male guardians are required when returning to leave Saudi Arabia in company of their respective Mahrams, pilgrims’ officials are urged to faithfully adhere to such rules.
Eid Mubarak!