Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 5 (ANI): Acharya Prashant, world-renowned philosopher and author, has made an impassioned call encouraging people to refrain from animal sacrifice and instead learn the real message, which calls for the sacrifice of selfish desires.

Acharya Prashant spoke about Eid al-Adha, saying that when it comes to religion and religious festivals, we must go back to their essence to truly understand them. With this aim, he narrated a story from the Qur'an.

He said, 'So where does the story begin? In the Qur'an and even in the Bible, the story of the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim) is mentioned. He has a dream in which he is commanded by Allah to sacrifice his son. He agrees and talks to his son (Ismail), who says, 'If you have received a divine command, follow it. I will stand firm. Don't worry about me.'

He added, 'So he sets out to fulfil this command, but at the last moment, a miracle occurs, he receives a divine message saying, 'This was only a test. There is no need to spill blood.' This was a test of what? The Qur'an uses the word Taqwa, which means piety, spiritual discipline, self-restraint.'

'Later, the story mentions that when Ibrahim was about to carry out the sacrifice, a ram appeared instead. The Qur'an further makes a deep and powerful statement: 'Allah is neither interested in the flesh nor the blood. Neither the meat nor the blood reaches Him; only your piety, your intentions, your sincerity, your inner purity reach Him.' That is what matters, the feeling, the spirit,' he further narrated.

Acharya Prashant said, 'If truth demands it, I should be ready to give up even what I love most, what I'm emotionally attached to, like a father's attachment, love, and interests tied to his son. So the point is, I should be ready to sacrifice my attachments and desires for the sake of truth, for righteousness. That is the essence of sacrifice. There is no mention of spilling blood as a requirement. And when the Qur'an itself says that neither meat nor blood matters to God, but rather your piety, then what are we doing?'

He added that the Qur'an never mandates animal killing as a compulsion, and if someone can show him a verse where it's made mandatory, he will accept that. In the Qur'an, killing is not strictly prohibited, but it is also not made mandatory.

He asked people to follow the essence of the religion, not merely traditions, as traditions often emerge from the cultural and social conditions of a particular time.

He gave an example, 'In the early days of Islam, slavery existed. But no Muslim today supports slavery. So we shouldn't blindly follow traditions. We should follow what is eternal, what is divine.'

'And that divine message is this: Show me your heart. Are you ready to give up all your selfish desires and emotional attachments for the sake of truth? Can you detach from all that is false and illusory, all the false bonds you've formed, can you leave all that behind for truth?' he added.

Acharya Prashant said, 'A true Muslim, on this day, should reflect deeply on this. And if this is the essence, then what is the real meaning of sacrifice? Sacrifice means giving up the inner impurities and evils.'

He acknowledged that this is how religious practices often work, not only in Islam but across all religions around the world.

He said, 'We ignore the divine message and start following mere tradition. For us, tradition becomes more important. We say, 'We've been doing it this way for hundreds or thousands of years, so why stop now?' But there are many things we did in the past that we no longer do, so why not this? The only thing that should never change is the truth.'

He said that animal killing is not just wrong on Eid, but it is wrong every single day. Whether one kills an animal for taste or religious reasons, it is wrong either way.

Acharya said, 'I have little respect for those who stay silent the rest of the year but suddenly protest on Bakrid alone. If it's wrong, it's wrong every day...Because when a person becomes numb and cruel towards animals and nature, they also lose compassion for fellow humans...Their humanity diminishes.'

He concluded with the message that religion should mean: 'Even if I lose my life, I'll protect someone else's.' (ANI)