This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Farooq Rafi Sahib's book Qurbani, Aqiqah, and Ashra Zil-Hijjah.
The primary purpose of Qurbani should solely be to seek the pleasure of Allah Almighty, to draw closer to Him, and to attain piety. Seeking the pleasure of any creation or desiring the approval of anyone other than Allah in Qurbani is impermissible and contrary to the spirit of sacrifice. The evidences for this are as follows:
Allah the Exalted says:
﴿قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ﴾
“Say, indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.”
Reference: Al-An'am: 162
Benefits:
① Hafiz Ibn Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, writes:
In this verse, Allah Almighty commands you, O Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), to inform the polytheists who worship others besides Allah and sacrifice animals in the name of others besides Allah, that your method of worship and sacrifice is different from theirs, because your prayer is solely for the pleasure of Allah and the sacrifice is only for Allah, who has no partner. Also, the command in this verse is similar to this verse: ﴿فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ﴾ "Pray to your Lord and sacrifice." In this verse too, the command is that you perform your prayer and sacrifice purely for Allah. Since the polytheists worshipped others besides Allah and sacrificed animals in the name of others besides Allah, in these verses Allah Almighty has commanded you, O Prophet, to strongly oppose the polytheists and completely abandon their false beliefs, and to emphasize sincerity in worship and sacrifice.
Reference: Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Surah Al-An'am: 162.
② The second important purpose of sacrifice is the purification of the self and attainment of piety; it is the piety of the hearts that Allah Almighty desires. Allah the Exalted says:
﴿لَن يَنَالَ اللَّهَ لُحُومُهَا وَلَا دِمَاؤُهَا وَلَٰكِن يَنَالُهُ التَّقْوَىٰ مِنكُمْ ﴾
"Neither their meat nor their blood reaches Allah, but it is your piety that reaches Him."
Reference: Al-Hajj: 37
Therefore, there should be no personal show-off or ostentation in sacrifice, and similarly, one should avoid unlawful acts and bad deeds that displease the Lord in the sacrifice, so that the sacrifice may attain the honor of acceptance.
