A Dictionary of Islam Being a cyclopedia of the...

The chief of the minor deities was Hubal, an image of a man, and said to have been originally brought from Syria. Other well-known idols were Isāf, an idol on Mount aṣ-Ṣāfā, and Nāʾilah, an image on Mount al-Marwah, as part of the rites of the pilgrimage, the Prophet not being able to divert entirely the regard of the people for them.

Habhah was a large sacred stone on which camels were sacrificed, and the Ḥajaru ʾl-Aswad, or Black Stone, was an object, as it still is, of idolatrous worship. In the Kaʿbah there were also images representing Abraham and Ishmael, each with divining arrows in his hand.

Although Herodotus does not refer to the Kaʿbah, yet he mentions as one of the chief divinities of Arabia Alilat, which is strong evidence of the existence of an idol called al-Lāt at that time as an object of worship. (Herod. iii. 8.) [IDOLATRY.]

Al-Baiẓāwī says Idrīs was of the posterity of Shīs̤ (Seth), and a forefather of Noah, and his name was Uḥnūk͟h (Enoch, Heb. חֲנוֹךְ, Consecrated). He was called Idrīs from dars, “to instruct,” from his knowledge of divine mysteries, and thirty portions of God’s sacred scriptures were revealed to him. He was the first person who learned to write, and he was the inventor of the science of astronomy and arithmetic.

The Kāmālān say, “In the book called the Rauẓatu ʾl-Aḥbāb, Ibn Jarīr relates that Idrīs was the special friend of one of the angels of heaven, and that this angel took him up into the heavens, and when they arrived in the fourth heaven they met the Angel of Death. The angel asked the Angel of Death how many years there were remaining of the life of Idrīs; and the Angel of Death said, ‘Where is Idrīs, for I have received orders to bring death to him?’ Idrīs then remained in the fourth heaven, and he died in the wings of his angel friend who had taken him from earth.”

ʿĪDU ʾL-AẒḤĀ (عيد الاضحى). Vulg. ʿĪd-i-Ẓuḥā, “The feast of sacrifice.” Called also Yaumu ʾn-Naḥr; Qurbān-ʿĪd; Baqarah-ʿĪd (i.e. the cow festival); and in Turkey and Egypt ʿĪdu Bairām. It is also called the ʿĪdu ʾl-kabīr, the great festival, as distinguished from the ʿĪdu ʾl-Fit̤r, which is called the minor festival, or al-ʿĪdu ʾṣ-ṣag͟hīr.

It is celebrated on the tenth day of Ẕū ʾl-Ḥijjah, and is part of the rites of the Makkan pilgrimage, although it is observed as well in all parts of Islām both as a day of sacrifice and as a great festival. It is founded on an injunction in the Qurʾān, Sūrah xxii. 33–38.

“And to every people have we appointed symbols, that they may commemorate the name of God over the brute beasts which He hath provided for them. And your God is the one God. To Him, therefore, surrender yourselves: and bear thou good tidings to those who humble themselves,—

“And the camels have we appointed you for the sacrifice to God: much good have ye in them. Make mention, therefore, of the name of God over them when ye slay them, as they stand in a row; and when they are fallen over on their sides, eat of them, and feed him who is content and asketh not, and him who asketh. Thus have We subjected them to you, to the intent ye should be thankful.

“By no means can their flesh reach unto God, neither their blood; but piety on your part reacheth Him. Thus hath He subjected them to you, that ye might magnify God for His guidance: moreover, announce glad tidings to those who do good deeds.”

The institution of the sacrifice was as follows:—A few months after the Hijrah, or flight from Makkah, Muḥammad, dwelling in al-Madīnah, observed that the Jews kept, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the great fast of the Atonement. A tradition records that the Prophet asked them why they kept this fast. He was informed that it was a memorial of the deliverance of Moses and the children of Israel from the hands of Pharaoh. “We have a greater right in Moses than they,” said Muḥammad, so he fasted with the Jews and commanded his followers to fast also. This was at the period of his mission when Muḥammad was friendly with the Jews of al-Madīnah, who occasionally came to hear him preach. The Prophet also occasionally attended the synagogue. Then came the change of the Qiblah from Jerusalem to Makkah, for the Jews were not so ready to change their creed as Muḥammad had at first hoped. In the second year of the Hijrah, Muḥammad and his followers did not participate in the Jewish fast, for the Prophet now instituted the ʿĪdu ʾl-Aẓḥā. The idolatrous Arabs had been in the habit of making an annual pilgrimage to Makkah at this season of the year. The offering of animals in sacrifice formed a part of the concluding ceremony of that pilgrimage. That portion—the sacrifice of animals—Muḥammad adopted in the feast which now, at al-Madīnah, he substituted for the Jewish fast. This was well calculated to attract the attention of the Makkans and to gain the goodwill of the Arabs.

Muḥammad could not then make the pilgrimage to Makkah, for as yet there was a hostile feeling between the inhabitants of the two cities; but on the tenth day of the month Ẕū ʾl-Ḥijjah, at the very time when the Arabs at Makkah were engaged in sacrificing victims, Muḥammad went forth from his house at al-Madīnah, and assembling his followers instituted the ʿĪdu ʾl-Aẓḥā. Two young kids were brought before him. One he sacrificed and said: “O Lord! I sacrifice this for my whole people, all those who bear witness to Thy unity and to my mission. O Lord! this is for Muḥammad and for the family of Muḥammad.”

There is nothing in the Qurʾān to connect this sacrifice with the history of Ishmael, but it is generally held by Muḥammadans to have been instituted in commemoration of Abraham’s willingness to offer up his son as a sacrifice. And Muḥammadan writers generally maintain that the son was Ishmael and not Isaac, and that the scene took place on Mount Mina near Makkah, and not in the land of Moriah, as is stated in Genesis.

The following is the account given by Muḥammadan writers:—“When Ibrahīm (the peace of God be upon him) founded Makkah, the Lord desired him to prepare a feast for Him. Upon Ibrahīm’s (the friend of God) requesting to know what He would have on the occasion, the Lord replied, ‘Offer up thy son Ismāʿīl.’ Agreeably to God’s command he took Ismāʿīl to the Kaʿbah to sacrifice him, and having laid him down, he made several ineffectual strokes on his throat with a knife, on which Ismāʿīl observed, ‘Your eyes being uncovered, it is through pity and compassion for me you allow the knife to miss: it would be better if you blindfolded yourself with the end of your turban and then sacrificed me.’ Ibrahīm acted upon his son’s suggestion and having repeated the words ‘Bi-smi ʾllāhi, allāhu akbar’ (i.e. ‘In the name of God! God is great!’), he drew the knife across his son’s neck. In the meanwhile, however, Gabriel had substituted a broad-tailed sheep for the youth Ismāʿīl, and Ibrahīm unfolding his eyes observed, to his surprise, the sheep slain, and his son standing behind him.” (See Qiṣaṣu ʾl-Ambiyāʾ.)

It is a notable fact that whilst Muḥammad professed to abrogate the Jewish ritual, and also ignored entirely the doctrine of the Atonement as taught in the New Testament, denying even the very fact of our Saviour’s crucifixion, he made the “day of sacrifice” the great central festival of his religion.

There is a very remarkable Ḥadīs̤, related by ʿĀyishah, who states that Muḥammad said, “Man hath not done anything on the ʿĪdu ʾl-Aẓḥā more pleasing to God than spilling blood; for verily the animal sacrificed will come, on the day of resurrection, with its horns, its hair, and its hoofs, and will make the scale of his (good) actions heavy. Verily its blood reacheth the acceptance of God, before it falleth upon the ground, therefore be joyful in it.” (Mishkāt, book iv. ch. xlii. sec. 2.)

Muḥammad has thus become a witness to the doctrine of the Christian faith that “without shedding of blood, there is no remission.” The animal sacrificed must be without blemish, and of full age; but it may be either a goat, a sheep, a cow, or a camel.

The religious part of the festival is observed as follows:—The people assemble in the morning for prayer, in the ʿĪdgāh, or place erected outside the city for these special festival prayers. The whole congregation then standing in the usual order, the Imām takes his place in front of them and leads them in two rakʿahs of prayer. After prayers the Imām ascends the mimbar or pulpit and delivers a K͟hut̤bah, or oration, on the subject of the festival.

“God is Great. There is no God but God. God is Great! God is Great and worthy of all praise. He is Holy. Day and night we should praise Him. He is without partner, without equal. All praise be to Him. Holy is He, Who makes the rich generous, Who provides the sacrifice for the wise. He is Great, without an equal. All praise be to Him. Listen! I testify that there is no God but God. He is alone, without partner. This testimony is as bright as the early dawn, as brilliant as the glorious feast day. Muḥammad is His servant who delivered His message. On Muḥammad, and on his family, and on his Companions may the peace of God rest. On you who are present, O congregation of Muslimīn, may the mercy of God for ever rest. O servants of God! our first duty is to fear God and to be kind. God has said, ‘I will be with those who fear Me and are kind.’

“Know, O servants of God! that to rejoice on the feast day is the sign and mark of the pure and good. Exalted will be the rank of such in Paradise, especially on the day of resurrection will they obtain dignity and honour. Do not on this day foolish acts. It is no time for amusements and negligence. This is the day on which to utter the praises of God. Read the Kalimah, the Takbīr and the Tamḥīd. This is a high festival season and the feast of sacrifice. Read now the Takbīru ʾt-Tashrīq. God is great! God is great! There is no God but God! God is great! God is great! All praise be to Him! From the morning of the ʿArafah, after every farẓ rakʿah, it is good for a person to repeat the Takbīru ʾt-Tashrīq. The woman before whom is a man as Imām, and the traveller whose Imām is a permanent resident, should also repeat this Takbīr. It should be said at each Namāz until the Ṣalātu ʾl-ʿAṣr of the Feast day (10th). Some, however, say that it should be recited every day till the afternoon of the thirteenth day, as these are the days of the Tashrīq. If the Imām forgets to recite, let not the worshipper forget. Know, O believers, that every free man who is a Ṣāḥib-i-Niṣāb should offer sacrifice on this day, provided that this sum is exclusive of his horse, his clothes, his tools, and his household goods and slaves. It is wājib for everyone to offer sacrifice for himself, but it is not a wājib order that he should do it for his children. A goat, a ram, or a cow, should be offered in sacrifice for every seven persons. The victim must not be one-eyed, blind, lame, or very thin.

“If you sacrifice a fat animal it will serve you well, and carry you across the Ṣirāt̤. O Believers, thus said the Prophet, on whom be the mercy and peace of God, ‘Sacrifice the victim with your own hands, this was the Sunnah of Ibrahīm, on whom be peace.’

“In the Kitābu Zādi ʾt-Taqwa it is said that, on the ʿĪdu ʾl-Fit̤r and the ʿĪdu ʾl-Aẓḥā, four nafl rakʿahs should be said after the farẓ Namāz of the ʿĪd. In the first rakʿah after the Sūratu ʾl-Fātiḥah recite the Sūratu ʾl-Aʿla (Sūrah lxxvii.); in the second, the Sūratu ʾsh-Shams (Sūrah xci.); in the third, the Sūratu ʾẓ-Ẓuḥa (Sūrah xciii.); in the fourth, the Sūratu ʾl-Ik͟hlāṣ (cxii.).

“May God include us amongst those who are accepted by Him, who act according to the Law, whose desire will be granted at the Last Day. To all such there will be no fear in the Day of Resurrection; no sorrow in the examination at the Day of Judgment. The best of all books is the Qurʾān. O believers! May God give to us and to you a blessing for ever, by the grace of the Noble Qurʾān. May its verses be our guide, and may its wise mention of God direct us aright. I desire that God may pardon all believers, male and female, the Muslimīn and the Muslimāt. O believers, also seek for pardon. Truly God is the Forgiver, the Merciful, the Eternal King, the Compassionate, the Clement. O believers, the K͟hut̤bah is over. Let all desire that on Muḥammad Muṣt̤afa the mercy and peace of God may rest.”