Cow Sacrifice a Symbol of Islam

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا رسول الله

Prayers and peace upon you, Apostle of Allah

Recently, a senior cleric of Deoband, Arshad Madani, may Allah eliminate him and his fitnah,  restated his demand that the cow be declared the “national animal” of India. This is the next step in the diabolical agenda of Deoband to enter reverence and worship of the cow into the hearts of the Muslims!

Initially, Deoband strongly advised Muslims to avoid cow sacrifice on the occasion of Eid al-Qurban, and cow slaughter in general, so as to avoid hurting Hindu sentiments. This is in stark contrast to the fatwa of the Sunni Mujaddid, Ala Hadrat, Imam Ahmad Rida Khan رحمة الله عليه  who wrote an entire paper on this issue titled انفس الفكر في قربان البقر in which he established, quite brilliantly, that the sacrifice and slaughter of cows becomes a religious obligation for the Muslims in the context in which the Hindu cow-worshipers seek to humiliate Islam by preventing that. Quoting a fatwa of the Ulama:

قربانی گائے کی شعار اسلام ہے اس کا موقوف کرنا بسبب ممانعت ہنود معصیت ہے

Cow sacrifice is a symbol of Islam. To halt it due to the Hindu prohibition is sinful (Fatawa Ridawiyyah, v.14, p.549)

Ala Hadrat, Imam Ahmad Rida Khan, may Allah have mercy on his blessed soul, restated this fact that cow sacrifice is a symbol of Islam (ibid, p.558)

So even though the Shari’ah does not mandate Muslims to sacrifice specifically cows on the occasion of Eid al-Qurban, and one is free to sacrifice camels, sheep and goats instead, it becomes a duty of the Muslims to sacrifice cows where and when their failure to do so is understood as appeasement of the Hindu cow-worshipers and idolaters.

Now appreciate the honor and jealousy that Ala Hadrat رحمة اللہ علیہ and the orthodox Sunni Ulama have for Allah and His Religion as opposed to the shamelessness and cowardice of Deoband.

The attitude of Deoband both surprises and disturbs me. It shows an utter failure to understand the spirit of Islam and the spirit of the message of the Holy Quran. The story of the resistance of the Israelites to God’s commandment through His Prophet Moses عليه السلام to slaughter a cow gives name to and is featured in the longest Surah of the Quran, al-Baqarah, which literally means the cow.

Deobandis and some other Muslims in India, in avoiding cow sacrifice and slaughter as a means of deference to the Hindus are similar to those cursed Israelites, who under the influence of their pagan neighbors, repeatedly relapsed into worship of the Golden Calf, and the worship of Baal, a Canaanite idol associated with the bull.

The wicked Israelite King Jeroboam had two golden calves constructed and placed one in Bethel and the other in Dan for his people to worship. Mind you this was centuries after the Israelites in the time of Moses and Aaron عليهما السلام had constructed the Golden Calf and worshiped it at the foot of Mount Sinai in the wilderness.

Likewise, the idolatrous influence of their Hindu ancestors and neighbors has poisoned the hearts of Deobandis and some other Muslims in India, compelling them to avoid cow sacrifice and slaughter.

Arshad Madani is the author of other scandals, such as declaring that Allah and Om are one. This was another diabolical attempt of his to reconcile Islam with the idolatrous and satanic Hindu religious.

It should be borne in mind that Arshad Madani is not some obscure cleric, but the head of the Jami’at Ulama-i-Hind (JUH), the principal face of Deoband in the public affairs of India. He is the son of Hussain Ahmad Madani, a major figure in the Deobandi movement, who introduced the wrong concept of composite nationalism to the Muslims of India, arguing that Muslims and Hindus form a single nation and that Muslims must remain loyal to India as their motherland.

Khalid Rashid of Firangi Mahal and Umar Ilyasi are other contemporary clerics in India who, like Deoband, kowtow to the Hindus. Umar Ilyasi, may Allah eliminate him and his fitnah, shamelessly participated in the disgraceful consecration of the Ram Janmbhumi temple in Ayodhya on the 22nd of January, 2024. This idolatrous temple was constructed on the ruins of the martyred and demolished Babri Masjid.

Before the establishment of the school of Deoband, the Sunni Muslims of the Subcontinent were united in their creed and practice of Islam. They venerated the Saints and Sufis, visiting their tombs to pray for them and obtain spirituality through nearness to their bones. They celebrated the Mawlid—the Prophet Muhammad’s blessed birthday, peace be upon him. They openly proclaimed “Ya Nabi Salam Alaika”. Those Islamic institutions which predate the Deobandi school and have managed to survive to the present bear witness to this fact. Consider the iconic Jama Masjid in Delhi, which was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the mid 17th century. He invited Sayyid Abd ul-Ghafur Shah of Bukhara, in present day Uzbekistan, to inaugurate the Mosque and serve as its khatib and royal imam. His descendants continue to serve as royal imams for this special and beautiful mosque till this day. They are traditional, orthodox and mainstream Sunni Muslims who have nothing to do with the newer schismatic movements that emerged during the British colonial period, such as Deoband and the so-called Ahl ul-Hadith or Salafism.

Hussain Ahmad Madani (1879-1957)

Arshad Madani

Mahmud Madani

Khalid Rashid of Farangi Mahal

Umar Ilyasi

Muslims in India should beware of these charlatans who are using the garb of Islam to hoodwink them into kowtowing to the Hindus and going along with the diabolical agenda of Hindutva.