# Notes on Muhammadanism/Chapter 38

XXXVIII.—ʾID-UL-AZHA′, OR THE FEAST OF SACRIFICE.
Id-ul-Azha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, is called also Yaum-un-Nahr, Qurbán-i-ʾId, Qur-bán Bayrám, Baqr-i-ʾId (the Cow Festival), and the Great Feast, and is held on the tenth day of the month Zul-Hijja. This festival has become part of the Meccan pilgrimage, of which it is the concluding scene, although it appears that Muhammad at first tended to conform to the custom of the Jews in observing the great day of atonement, but, when he failed to maintain a friendly footing with the Jews, he merged the rite into the Meccan pilgrimage. This feast, however, is the great Muhammadan festival, which is observed wherever Islám exists; and it is a notable fact that whilst Muhammad 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 Hadís, related: by ʾA′yesha, who states, that Muhammad said, "Man hath not done anything on the ʾId-ul-Azhá 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 scales of his (good) actions heavy. Verily its blood reacheth the acceptance of God, before it falleth upon the ground, therefore be joyful in it." Muhammad has thus become unwillingly a witness to the grand 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.
According to the commentator Jalál-ud-dín Syúty, the sacrifice was instituted in com​memoration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismaíl! The following is the account given by Muhammadan writers:—"When Ibrahím (the peace of God be upon him) founded Mecca, the Lord desired him to prepare a feast for Him. Upon Ibrahím's (the friend of God) requesting to know what He would have on the occasion, the Lord replied, 'Offer up thy son Ismaíl.' Agreeably to God's command he took Ismaíl to the Kʾaba to sacrifice him, and having laid him down, he made several ineffectual strokes on his throat with a knife, on which Ismaíl 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.' Ibrahím acted upon his son's suggestion and having repeated the words 'bismillah allah-ho akbar' (i.e., 'in the name of the great God'), he drew the knife across his son's neck. In the meanwhile, however, Gabriel had substituted a broad-tailed sheep for the youth Ismaíl, and Ibrahím unfolding his eyes observed, to his surprise, the sheep slain, and his son standing behind him." The account ​is a ridiculous parody upon the words of the inspired prophet Moses. In the Qurán the name of the son is not given, although commentators state, that the Prophet said, that he was a descendant of the son of Abraham who was offered in sacrifice. The sacrifice, as it is now performed on the ʾId-ul-Azhá is as follows:—The people assemble for prayer at the ʾIdgah as on the ʾId-ul-Fitr; after prayers the people return to their houses. The head of the family then takes a sheep (or a cow or camel) to the entrance of his house and sacrifices it, by repeating the words, "In the name of the great God," and cutting its throat. The flesh of the animal is then divided, two-thirds being kept by the family, and one-third being given to the poor in the name of God.
* ↑ Vulg. ʾId-uz-Zohá.
* ↑ Mishkát-ul-Masábih, bk. iv. chap. xlii. sect. 2.
* ↑ The name is not given in the Qurán, but it is in the Hadís Sahíh Bokhári.