Saquib Salim

Often people ask what is the best sacrifice which can be offered on the day of Eid-ul-Adha? The question was answered by the last Mughal Emperor and the leader of the First War of the Indian National Independence, Bahadur Shah Zafar, in 1857. 

In 1857, as the war in and around Delhi was in full swing, people did not sacrifice animals. Rather, Zafar gave a call that Eid should be marked by slaying the enemies of the nation at the altar of the motherland.   

 

Zafar, who was also an Urdu poet, ordered in form of a poem;

“Lashkar : Ahd-e-Ilahi aaj sara qatl ho

(O God! May the whole army of the enemy be killed today)

Gorkhe gore se ta gujjar ansari qatl ho

May the Englishmen along with their allies – Gorkhas, Gujjars, and others be killed)

Aaj ka din Id-e-qurban tab hi janenge hum

Ai zafar tahe tegh jab qatil tumhara qatl ho

(We shall recognise this day as the Id day only when today

O Zafar ! your murderers (Englishmen) will be killed”)

The order signed by Bahadur Shah Zafar

The Indians should understand that Hindus and Muslims were shrewdly divided by the British and nationalists always tried to defeat their plans. In May 1857, Delhi was liberated by the Indian revolutionaries and Zafar was proclaimed the leader of the revolution. Veer Savarkar also noted, in 1857, that “it was in the Diwan-i-Khas of Delhi, more than in any other Durbar, that the seeds of Revolution began to take root.” 

The authority of the English East India Company was being challenged like never before. With the help of ‘traitors’, they started a campaign of dividing Indians. Several English-paid stooges were living in Delhi at the time. Gauri Shankar, one of those English stooges, informed his ‘masters’ that on 2 August, Eid-ul-Adha, if a few Muslims slaughtered cows then Hindus could be instigated against them. In those circumstances ‘stooges’ would foment the emotions into a Hindu Muslim riot. This moment of internal strife could be used by the foreign ‘masters’ to recapture Delhi. 

The Muslims who were to slaughter cows were also paid by the English as Zafar had already banned cow slaughter. Zafar got the idea that Eid could be used to create anarchy in the capital and weaken the War of National Independence. He ordered the Kotwal to gather all cows in Kotwali so that not even a stray cow was slaughtered to create a disturbance. But, space was a problem. Kotwali could not accommodate all the cows. 

Now, Zafar faced a litmus test of national leadership. He was a Muslim and leader of the War of National Independence. Sacrificing animals on Eid-ul-Adha is an Islamic practice and maintaining Hindu Muslim unity was a national duty. A new farman (order) from Zafar asked the people not to slaughter animals. Rather, “We shall recognize this day as the Eid day only when today, O Zafar ! your murderers (Englishmen) will be killed”  

Portion of the letter written by English officer Keith Young

Muslims did not object to this new scheme of celebrating Eid. Hindus and Muslims unitedly attacked the enemy camp at North Delhi. English army, which was waiting for news of the Hindu-Muslim riot, was shocked to receive this sudden attack. An English officer later noted in his diary, “The Jama Masjid rang with the prayers of the faithful, and Brahman priests stimulated the fanaticism of the followers of Vishnu. Again and again, the Hindu-Muslim assailants rallied and rushed upon the breastworks.”  

Another English officer, Keith Young, wrote, “instead of fighting amongst themselves they (Hindu and Muslim) all joined together to make a vigorous attack to destroy us and utterly sweep us from the face of the earth.”

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No wonder the English dreaded the Hindu-Mulsim-Sikh unity the most. After 1857, they kept on paying stooges to fan the religious fanaticism which resulted in the Partition of our nation. 

This Eid-ul-Adha we should revisit the message of unity given by Bahadur Shah Zafar. In the spirit of Zafar, the true Eid will be celebrated when the enemies of the nation are slain down. The best sacrifice is the slaying of the enemies of the nation, society, and people.