Pics: Spoorthi Ullal/Justin D'Silva

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Aug 12: Bakrid, which is being celebrated in the district today, is backed by a history of over 5,000 years. The city of Ur in Iraq was being ruled by a perverted king named Namrud. He used to call himself the Almighty and torture his subjects. Azhar was the court priest of the king and his son was Ibrahim.

Allah then deputed Hazarat Ibrahim as his prophet with orders to rid people of immoral, meaningless superstitions. Azhar was not prepared to heed to Ibrahim's advice and threatened to deprive him of the ancestral property. Ibrahim insisted that Lord's grace was much more valuable than any kind of property.

Mangaluru

Udupi and Gangolli

Prophet Ibrahim gave up family and close relatives and got engaged in religious propagation. He had to present himself in the court of King Namrud on the allegation of desecrating certain statues on a festival day. The king, during the inquiry, realized that he was at fault, but ordered the Prophet to be thrown into the fire but the fire turned into a bed of flowers.

Prophet Ibrahim, his wife, Sara, and a relative, went by foot, spreading the message of the Almighty to the people. They travelled through Syria, Egypt, Arabia etc. When they were in trouble, the Almighty saved them through miracles. Ibrahim got a son Ismail, through his second wife, Hazira. He got the order from the divine to discard his wife and child in a distant desert in Saudi Arabia. Ibrahim did this. On a day, the child, Ismail, who was thirsty, hit his leg to the ground from which spot fountain of water, known as zam zam sprang. This spot turned into holy Mecca.

When he was ordered to sacrifice his child, the father and mother were prepared to sacrifice their child. But at the last moment, he got the message that he has passed all kinds of tests and therefore, he can sacrifice a goat instead of his son. The divine message asked the husband-wife duo to construct a prayer centre for the Almighty. This was the incident forming base for Bakrid.

Like in other festivals, Muslims offer special prayers at mosques or Idgahs early in the morning. To symbolize the readiness to sacrifice anything to satisfy the Almighty, animals are sacrificed and the flesh is distributed among close ones and poor people.