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Eid ul Azha Mubarak !!!
I pray that Allah Grants relief to all of us from difficulties. Aameen
I pray that Allah Makes it easy for us to overcome losses. Aameen
Eid ul Azha is here. Like Eid ul Fitr, this Eid is also shadowed by COVID19.
I pass by two goat/cattle markets on the way to and from office. The number of visitors has been rising every day. The notice says ‘No Entry Without Mask – Fine for Violation Rs. 500’. The buyers are wearing masks diligently.
I wish to raise few questions here.
It is interesting to note that on every Eid ul Azha, lot of people spend a lot of time on haggling about the prices of sacrificial animals. True, there is no deal without haggling, but the dealers already build that margin in the asking price. In fact, they add so much that it may not be possible to erode all of it through negotiation. You do haggle, but still end up buying expensive.
I wish to raise some questions, however.
There is only one occasion in one year when we buy one animal (most people) for sacrifice. Men spend so much wisdom and effort on it which they probably do not spend on renting a house, choosing a school for children or even finding a suitable match for children’s marriages.
- Why do we worry so much about couple of thousand rupees when we know we are quite likely to spend that much money on eating out or clothing in a matter of minutes or hours?
- Why is our focus on price only and not on the sacrifice?
- Is it so important that we spend hours and days and travel to far off places to buy at a little less price?
- Is time not money?
- Is sacrifice about spending money or saving money?
- Are we not losing sight of what we are actually trying to achieve?
- Do we not end up buying on the best price, rather than the best quality?
- Is sacrifice not about sacrificing what we love? If yes, then the decision should be based on what we love to get, not what we haggle to get.
- Are we not obsessing too much about decreasing the price and increasing the quantity of meat?
- Have we not understood the universal fact that cheaper is never better?
- When shall we stop boasting about our misconceived expertise in buying animals?
- Why do we haggle with the butcher so much to save a few hundred rupees? Isn’t Eid about giving?
- Why do we try to keep major portion of meat for our own self on one or the other pretext?
- Why do we keep the best parts and distribute the lesser parts?
- Why do we keep a third portion for poor religiously, but put all the non-meat parts in it?
- Who are we trying to satisfy? Our conscience?
With all due regard, our enthusiasm about buying and sacrificing animals is a great thing. We do spend significant amounts individually and huge sums collectively. This is truly the spirit of Eid ul Azha – to include everyone in the festivity.
However, our obsession about price is misdirected. If we obsess about buying what we like or love, we may be able to feel the spirit of sacrifice even better.
concluded.