(6) منسك mansak. Occurs in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xxii. 35]: “We have appointed to every nation a rite (mansak).” [Sūrah ii. 122]: “Show us our rites” (manāsik): also verse 196. Al-Baiẓāwī (Tafsīr, p. 91), to the first passage, says the word means a place of devotion, or a sacrifice which draws a man near to God, and mentions another reading, mansik, a place of worship, of which manāsik is likewise the plural. The word, as quoted above, as well as the plural form, is translated by the late Professor Palmer “rites.” [[RITES].]
II. There are only two occasions upon which Muḥammadans sacrifice, namely, on the Great Festival held on the 10th day of Ẕū ʾl-Ḥijjah [[ʿIDU ʾL-AZHA]] and on the birth of a child [[AQIQAH]].
(1) The great sacrifice recognised by the Muslim faith is that on the Great Festival, called the ʿĪdu ʾl-Aẓḥā, or “Feast of Sacrifice.” This sacrifice is not only offered by the pilgrims at Makkah, but in all parts of Islām, upon the day of sacrifice. In the first place, this sacrifice is said to have been established in commemoration of Abraham having consented to sacrifice his son (most Muslims say it was Ishmael), as recorded in the Qurʾān, when it is said God “ransomed his (Abraham’s) son with a costly victim” ([Sūrah xxxvii. 107]); but Shaik͟h ʿAbdu ʾl-Ḥaqq, in his commentary on the Mishkāt, also says that al-Uẓḥīyah, “the sacrifice,” is that which at the special time (i.e. on the festival) is slaughtered with the object of obtaining nearness to God.
(2) The teaching of the Qurʾān on the subject of sacrifice is conveyed in the following verses ([Sūrah xxii. 37]):—
“The bulky (camels) we made for you one of the symbols of God (Shaʿāʾiri ʾllāhi), therein have ye good. So mention the name of God over them as they stand in a row (for sacrifice), and when they fall down (dead), eat of them and feed the easily contented and him who begs. Thus have we subjected them to you: haply ye may give thanks. Their flesh will never reach to God, nor yet their blood, but the piety from you will reach Him.”
Al-Baiẓāwī on this verse says, “It, the flesh of the sacrifice, does not reach unto God, nor its blood, but the piety (taqwā) that is the sincerity and intention of your heart.” (Tafsīru ʾl-Baiẓāwī, vol. ii. p. 52.)
(3) In the Traditions (Mishkāt, book iv. ch. xlix.) we have the following:—
Anas says: “The prophet sacrificed two rams, one was black, and the other was white, and he put his foot on their sides as he killed them, and cried out, ‘Biʾ-smi ʾllāhi, Allāhu akbar! In the name of God! God is most great!’ ”
ʿĀyishah says: “The Prophet ordered a ram with horns to be brought to him, and one that should walk in blackness, sleep in blackness, and look in blackness” (by which he meant with black legs, black breast and belly, and black eyes), “and he said, ‘O ʿĀyishah, give me a knife and sharpen it!’ And I did so. Then the Prophet took hold of the ram and threw him on his side and slew it. And when he was killing it he said, ‘In the name of God! O God accept this from Muḥammad, and from his children, and from his tribe!’ Afterwards he gave to the people their morning meal from the slaughtered ram.”
Jābir says: “The Prophet sacrificed two rams on the day of the Festival of Sacrifice, which were black or white, and had horns, and were castrated; and when he turned their heads towards the Qiblah, he said, ‘Verily I have turned my face to Him who brought the heavens and the earth into existence from nothing, according to the religion of Abraham, and I am not of the polytheists. Verily my prayers, my worshipping, my life, and my death, are for God, the Lord of the universe, who hath no partner; and I have been ordered to believe in one God, and to abandon associating any other god with Him; and I am one of the Muslims. O God! this sacrifice is of Thee, and for Thee; accept it then from Muḥammad and his people!’ And he added, ‘In the name of God! the Great God!’ and then killed them.”