Annual carnage in the name of God
By Paigham Mustafa
*Sacrifice of a child or an animal has been a ritual for many pagan religions.
What does it say about the people who perform such killings?*
People believe the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son was commanded by God.
For this reason, after the annual pilgrimage rituals in Mecca have taken place, a lamb or a sheep is sacrificed on the day of _Eid-ul-Adha,_ or the
‘Feast of Sacrifice.’
An animal is sacrificed because, it is believed, at the last minute Abraham's son was saved and a sheep was sent as a substitute. But did God really decree a human sacrifice?
The Quran says animal sacrifices are for food, both for those performing this act of goodness and for the needy who receive this.
_“The animal sacrifices are among the sanctioned decrees of God for your own good. You shall mention God's name upon them when you prepare for the slaughter. Once they are slaughtered, you shall eat from the meat and feed the poor and the needy. This is why We subdued them for you, that you may show your appreciation. Neither their meat, nor their blood reaches God. What ascends to Him is your righteousness that you preserve and safeguard. He has subdued them for you that you may show your appreciation and glorify God for guiding you. Give good news to those who do good.”_
[The Quran 22:36-37]
Child sacrifice is the ritualistic killing of a child or children in order to appease a deity. Propitiation is the act of appeasing a deity, thus incurring divine favour or avoiding divine retribution. It is believed that Abraham was commanded by God to make such a sacrifice by killing his son, but at the last minute God changed His mind and sent a sheep to be slaughtered instead. This, it is believed, is the decree for all Muslims to make an annual sacrifice of an animal and is carried out each year after the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Did God decree such a ritual?
An animal must be sacrificed after the annual pilgrimage has been completed. This, say the devout, is part of the religious ritual. As a result, mass slaughter takes place each year in Mecca and around the world in Sunni and Shia countries. Did God decree this ritual while people continue to suffer from hunger and abject poverty?
“One million sheep are slaughtered, cut and packed in just 48 hours,” boasted Dr Bandar Hajjar, the president of the Islamic Banking Group (IBG). He was of course speaking about the ritual sacrifice which is an essential conclusion to the annual pilgrimage in Mecca held after Ramadhan, the month of fasting.
This religious rite stems from the erroneous belief that Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his son, but at the last moment God sent a sheep to be killed in his place.
This, it is said, was only a test, and as a mark of remembrance of this event, everyone should sacrifice a sheep at God’s altar in order to appease Him and be thankful that Abraham did not have to kill his son but a sheep instead. The meat, we are told by the Saudi government, is distributed in Arabia and many other Muslim countries for the benefit of the poor.
We should excuse ourselves and take a pause here to stop and think. If indeed this meat is being given to the needy, there is not much evidence of this noble deed. After all these centuries of being fed sacrificial meat, we still see hunger and poverty in the many countries that subscribe to what they say is Islam. And if I take a longer pause to reflect on the verses of the Quran that directly recount Abraham’s incident, the evidence for instigating this supra industrial butchery is also very thin.
In the Quran, it was not God who decreed child sacrifice; it was Abraham’s own idea. That’s why Abraham asked his son what he thought of it. Had it been God’s command, Abraham, as God’s messenger, would not seek or need a second opinion. In fact, in the Quran, God forbids any unjust killing, and the killing of children in general is decreed abhorrent even in times of great hardship.
It is not the case that God forbids sacrifice, because sacrifice can take place in many different ways. You can sacrifice your time, skills or goods that you value in the way of a social cause. And yes, the sacrifice of livestock may also be necessary at times for food, but to gather en masse specifically for the slaughter of a million animals as a ritual is something else. Would God really have decreed such a horrific act?
Where animals are sacrificed, especially to feed communities, God says: _“Neither their meat nor their blood reaches God. What ascends to Him is your righteousness that you preserve and safeguard._” [The Quran 22:37].
It’s clear we need to maintain our good deeds throughout the year and not just for one day – and it’s not blood or meat that God wants.
While the sacrificial ritual has its roots in the perceived belief of God’s command for Abraham to sacrifice his own son, the pilgrimage called hajj is also based on contentious perceptions. The meaning has been skewed to mean pilgrimage to the Kaba in Mecca, but a true reading shows that it cannot be this. If hajj (the hajj) means pilgrimage then, the reading of verse 40:47 would mean that ‘people make the pilgrimage into the fire’, instead of the true rendition saying that ‘people confront or challenge each other in the fire.’ Other verses do not support the pilgrimage idea too. While the sanctimonious, especially those with deep pockets, indulge in pilgrimages to the ‘House of God’ with sacrifices to mollify Him and to secure their own place in heaven, in this world the homeless are still homeless and the hungry are still hungry.
The Quran repeatedly and consistently decrees the helping of the needy and for people to become benefactors of humanity. While billions is spent in Mecca by pilgrims to reserve a guaranteed front row seat in paradise, millions of people worldwide continue to suffer in misery with little or no hope of a decent life now or in the foreseeable future.
It is interesting to note that Dr Hajjar and the IBG banking institute are heavily complicit in this annual sacrificial festival which is supported and thoroughly capitalised by the Whabi Saudi government in Arabia. The income generated by this event is no less than £19 billion each year. Should I repeat that? £19 billion. We can probably just imagine the Saudi checkouts working incessantly with all that money pouring into the country’s coffers.
The bank has set up an electronic internet payment system so that even those who are unable to attend the pilgrimage can still have the privilege of parting with their money and fulfil their rite to a sacrifice by proxy. Let the carnage begin.
This article was first published in 2019.
© 2026 Paigham Mustafa
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paigham Mustafa has been engaged in the study and research of the Quran since 1988 and has contributed to the print media for over 37 years. His first major work, The Quran: God’s Message to Mankind, was published in 2016, followed by The Divine Blueprint in 2022. He is also the author of How To Be Human, published in 2025. His exegesis of the Quran often challenges traditional readings, offering instead a reasoned and objective analysis of the original text. His works provide essential guidance, helping readers gain a clearer, more informed understanding of Islam. This helps address many of the issues that stem from misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and misconceptions.
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