The ancient religious injunction of animal sacrifice was a ritualized controlled way of producing a centralized slaughter of large animals for meat, so that people could eat the meat communally, because you couldn't refrigerate the meat, it would go bad.
So whether animals are slaughtered or not, the meaning is different today. In the religious rituals, it has no more significance than slaughtering and eating a chicken, except it must be done within the community, and there were rules for how the meat is to be divided up.
Modern religious slaughter is a vestige of this, as is modern ritual slaughter. It's not significant in a world with freezers full of meat.
Islam allows the earning member of the family to sacrifice one animal, in remembrance of the sacrifices of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham).
This practice is only bound on people of means, poor people can share one large animal for sacrifice.
The meat is to be used for feeding the poor, and yourself. Practices differ. In my house almost 90% of the animal is given away.
So whether animals are slaughtered or not, the meaning is different today. In the religious rituals, it has no more significance than slaughtering and eating a chicken, except it must be done within the community, and there were rules for how the meat is to be divided up.
Modern religious slaughter is a vestige of this, as is modern ritual slaughter. It's not significant in a world with freezers full of meat.
Islam allows the earning member of the family to sacrifice one animal, in remembrance of the sacrifices of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham).
This practice is only bound on people of means, poor people can share one large animal for sacrifice.
The meat is to be used for feeding the poor, and yourself. Practices differ. In my house almost 90% of the animal is given away.
No comments:
Post a Comment