Islamic scholars dissuade slaughter of cows on Bakrid

HYDERABAD: Muslim religious scholars have appealed against slaughter of any member of the bovine family during Bakrid, which will be celebrated on August 12. They have urged Muslims to sacrifice only sheep and goats.
Muslim scholars are circulating messages in social media like WhatsApp to urge people to follow the law of the land and avoid sacrificing members of the bovine family.As is the case in many states, cow slaughter is banned in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. They took the opportunity of weekly sermons in mosques on Friday (August 9) to drive home the message that only goats and sheep should be sacrificed in order to uphold communal harmony.
In fact, the Nizam VII, Mir Osman Ali Khan, had imposed a ban on cow slaughter during Bakrid in the princely state of Hyderabad. The Nizam government had issued a `firman’ (order) banning slaughter of cows way back in 1920s. Muslim scholars also recalled the firman of Moghul emperor Babar issued about 500 years ago banning sacrifice of cows as majority of the people in the country worship them.
Islamic scholar Moulana Khalid Rashid said Islam does not permit sacrifice of animals that are held in high esteem or worshipped by a group of people. “Sacrifice sheep and dispose of the waste in a scientific way, without throwing them on streets,” he said in a social media message.
Another Muslim scholar Moulana Abdul Kareem said as the festival name Bakrid denotes, goats or sheep alone should be sacrificed. “Bakrid means a festival during which sheep are sacrificed. Worldwide, the festival is called Id-ul-Adha or the feast of sacrifice. But in the Indian sub-continent it is named Bakrid,” he said.
“Historically, only sheep are slaughtered during the festival. The festival of sacrifice owes its origin to Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) who offered to sacrifice his son, Ismail (Ishmael) to fulfil the divine vision”, said Hafiz Syed Shujath Hussain, a scholar, adding that archangel Jibareel (Gabriel) had replaced young Ismail with a lamb. He said only sheep were sacrificed by Prophet Mohammed.
Religious scholars have also taken up a social media campaign on a clean and hygienic Bakrid. Small videos are being circulated through social media emphasizing the need to dispose the waste only at places designated by local civic authorities.