SACRIFICE (PERFORMING THE QURBAN) [PART 7]

Nor is it halal [1] to slaughter it and eat its meat or let rich people eat it before its prescribed time. These things, (that is, the wool, the milk, and the meat), can be given to the poor. Therefore, the qurban cannot be performed on the ’Arafa day (the day previous to the first day of ’Iyd of Qurban; ninth day of Dhu'l-Hijja). It is not halal for one to eat its meat or to let rich people eat it. After a day is judged to be the ’Iyd day by testimony of witnesses and as prescribed by the Shari’a [2] and the ’Iyd prayer and the qurban are performed, if it is found out that it was the ’Arafa day, the prayer and the qurban will be accepted. At places where Ramadan and the month containing the days of ’Iyd cannot be discovered by testimony of witnesses as prescribed by the Shari’a, the first day of the month of Dhu'l-Hijja and hence the tenth day, that is, the first day of the ’Iyd of qurban are calculated by using the Ishik method, which is explained in the eleventh chapter of Endless Bliss. The first day of the ’Iyd is the day determined by this calculation. Or it is the next day. It cannot be the previous day. For the new moon cannot be seen before it appears in the sky. Being prudent, one should perform the qurban on the second day of the ’Iyd found by calculation. But the qurban whose thawab [3] will be presented as a gift to the dead should be performed on the first calculated day. For, this sacrifice can be performed on the ’Arafa day, too. A Muslim who has not performed the qurban should give directions in his last will before dying to his inheritors that the qurban be performed on his behalf out of the property he is leaving behind. The willed qurban is performed on (one of) the ’Iyd days. The person who performs it cannot eat from the meat even if he is poor. He has to give all the meat to the poor. If a person has died before having given directions in his last will, his inheritors or others may kill an animal of qurban out of their property any time and present the thawab to him. The thawab will belong to the person who performs the qurban. It can also be presented to the dead person. The person who performs this qurban can eat from the meat, too.

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GLOSSARY
[1] halal: (act, thing) permitted in Islam.
[2] Shari’at: (pl. of Shari’a) i) rules and commandments as a whole of the religion. ii) religion.