With Eidul Azha or festival of sacrifice approaching fast and the issue of cow slaughter and meat ban heightening tension at many places, a group of Islamic scholars here has called upon the Muslims to avoid sacrificing cow or its progenies.
A group headed by Syed Hussain Madani has asked Muslims not to take the law in their hands or hurt the religious sentiments of Hindu community as it will vitiate the atmosphere and create obstacles in the way of introducing Islam to the non-Muslims. “The main duty of Muslims is to take the message of Islam to the other communities and nothing should be allowed come in the way,” Moulana Madani said.
Syed Hussain Madani argued that even the prophet Mohammed had sacrificed goat and he was the best model for all the Muslims. “Muslims should opt for alternate animals permitted by Shariah,” he said adding that Islam allows sacrifice of cows but it has no added value.
On the occasion of Eid normally there was more demand for the bulls and the bullocks as seven persons can take a share each in its sacrifice unlike the goat which can be sacrificed by only one person. It also makes more economic sense to the ordinary Muslims as in case of the sacrifice of a bigger animal, the cost comes to `2,600 per person at average compared to `7,000 to `8,000 per goat or sheep.
Still a vast majority of middle class Muslims in Hyderabad prefer sacrificing goats due to their personal prefers for mutton over beef.
The campaign against the cow-sacrifice has the support of many well known Muslim religious and social leaders including Moulana Abdul Raheem Qureshi, president of the Majlis-e-Tameer-e-Millat and assistant secretary of the All India Muslim Personal law Board, Moulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, Moulana Aneesur Rehman Azmi of Chennai, Moulana Mufti Nassem Ahmed Ashrafi, and Moulana Mufti Mahboob Shareef Nizami of Jamia Nizamia.
The initiative of the scholars has come at a time when the incidents of some Hindu groups taking the law into their hands and attacking the vehicles transferring the bulls to the markets in Hyderabad have increased in the recent weeks creating a lot of tension.
Though the police have warned against any such vigilantism and the Deputy Commissioner of Police South Zone Satyanarayana has clarified that no certificate was required for the transfer or slaughtering of the bulls and bullocks, certain groups were targeting the traders of the animals.
Significantly, there is no ban on the beef trade either in Telangana or Andhra Pradesh and it is in great demand both among the Muslims as well as Christian and Dalit communities.
But Hussain Madani said that the Muslims should avoid the slaughtering of even the bulls and bullocks during the Eid in the larger interest of the community and also to ensure peace and cordial atmosphere.
But instead the main stream media the scholars have taken the unusual route of social media and the Friday sermons to take their message to the ordinary Muslims.
Pointing out that the cow slaughter was banned under the law, Hussain Madani said that Muslims should not take the law in their hands.
It is obligatory for the rich Muslims to sacrifice animals on the occasion of Eidul Azha all over the world and distributing the meat among the poor and the relatives apart from consuming a portion of the same.