Re: Bakra EID
Actually...the very animal that was replace with Prophet Ishmael was a Lamb. Why specifically lamb? well it's a loooong story and one that is tied to the earliest of times.
Read if u have patience...please forgive me if i skip something significant:
Prophet Adam had two sons Abel and Cain. And they at one time gave offerings to please Allah due to a conflict that they needed guidance on, and on the advice of their father Prophet Adam, they made an offering of their individual fitting. Cain offered garden produce (claiming them to be a better offering then that of his brother Abel) and Abel was a shepard, who could only spare whatever he had of his herd so he offered a Lamb. Back then, the tradition was that an offering would be made on a mountain (i dnt recall the name of), and a blaze would come out of the skies, capture the offering and take it back into heavens within a flash. So, on this particular occassion, Abel offered a Lamb, and it is told that, Allah (SWT) accepted that offering over that of the other brother (Cain), and this very lamb was saved in the heavens for a later time. Now if we fast fwd. to the times of Prophet Abraham. When Prophet Abraham was to sacrifice Ishmael for the sake of Allah, that very lamb was sent from the heavens to replace Ishmael. Hence a Lamb being a preferred animal.
It is NOT a must to sacrifice lamb only, many ppl sacrifice other animals as well, like a family or a group of people can go together on a Camel or a Cow. Many people, majority, sacrifice Goat.
So there it is...
This is the shortest way i could explain the origin of why Lamb or Goat....
The actual history behind it all is very lengthly, and interesting i might add. :)