“This do. And they who respect the symbols of God, perform an action which proceedeth from piety of heart.
“Ye may obtain advantages from the cattle to the set time for slaying them; then, the place for sacrificing them is at the ancient House.
“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,—
“Whose hearts, when mention is made of God, thrill with awe; and to those who remain steadfast under all that befalleth them, and observe prayer, and give alms of that with which we have supplied them.
“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.