It happened in the city, or rather in the Quranic parlance, in the village where I am presently domiciled. I know the owner or rather the ‘ram-boy’ like your knowledge of herdsmen in our cities. I meant the ‘ram-boy’ who has not lost his innocence; the ‘ram-boy’ who is not a rifle-bearer.
For close to a year, he had been catering to the needs and comforts of the rams. This has been his profession since over five years now. He toils and labour all year around and waits patiently to reap his reward during I’d kabir, the season of sacrifice.
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A couple of days before the I’d, a group of brethren in faith came to his small farm to buy two of the rams in his possession. They wanted to avoid the last minute rush; the rush-hours- hours when shylock sellers would maximize their profits by selling the rams far and above ‘reasonable’ prices. Eventually, the ‘ram-boy’ became happy for the profit he has made from the transaction; he thanked the Almighty that his efforts had not all gone in vain. Our brethren who went to buy the rams were equally happy. They got good rams; they bought same with, in their opinion, good prices. Everybody went on his ways. Until the following day.
The ‘ram-boy’ arrived the farm-house to discover that none of the remaining animals had touched the hay, the straw and the silage that he left for them twelve hours before. Twelve hours thereafter the situation remained as it was. The rams were not taking their food. He checked and re-checked the bowl and the hay. He wanted to know exactly what could have been responsible for the strange development. All his enquiries returned negative. Nothing was wrong with the hay; the bowl had not been infected too. To make assurance doubly sure, the ‘ram-boy’ sought the opinion of the vet doctor nearby who equally said that nothing was actually wrong with the physiology of the animals. The reason they refused to take their food had to be sought elsewhere.
The resolution of the strange occurrence eventually came when an elder in the neighborhood enquired whether any of the animals had previously be taken away. When he was told that some of them were sold the day before, he said the reason the animals had not taken their food could be because of that. He said- ‘just like humans, animals equally feel and experience feeling of loss whenever one of them is taken away from them”! It was another teachable moment for all.
In other words, before the above incident, I have always contented myself with the lessons and instructions that Islam teaches us- not and never to treat animals with cruelty. I have always deployed this into my public lectures- that if a woman could enter paradise simply because she showed compassion to a cat who was thirsty by getting water for it to drink, those who engage in similar acts of compassion in favour of their fellow humans can only expect grand rewards from the Almighty. I have always argued, in contrast too, that whosoever engages in any atrocious act from which animals and humans suffer injury or death has an appointment with the keepers of hell on the day of resurrection. No act of compassion shall be left to waste; no unwarranted injury shall be left unrecompensed.
Thus, it became pertinent that if indeed animals could experience this depth of compassion for one another, if animals could skip or avoid food altogether as a way of showing their feelings of grief and tribulation, humans should be capable of showing greater compassion for one another by avoiding actions whose purpose is to inflict injury and death. If animals could be so kind and compassionate for another, how might we describe humans who engage in atrocities which animals would not even perpetrate? Is it not true then that there are some humans who are baser in conduct than some animals? Is it not true then that there are some animals who are nobler in orientation than some humans?
And exactly that is where the irony lies- that in our world today, it appears as if we have all lost that subtle element that emphasizes our humanity- the element of love, of compassion and of affection.
The festival of sacrifice was meant to remind us of our true essence- that though we may be classified by circumstance into the rich and the poor, that though our cities may be divided into two – one known as the GRA and the other as lesser city- there can be no doubt that feelings of happiness and sadness are the same all over. Until you are prepared to sacrifice your greed and desires for the Almighty, until you are prepared to forsake this world in pursuit of the eternal, your identity as a Muslim shall remain suspect.
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