Author: M Asem Ismail Zahi
Eid al-Adha
Eid al-Adha is a reminder of the most beautiful example of human worship before Allah Almighty. Eid al-Adha is the Eid of sacrifice, sincerity and love. Sacrificing one’s beloved child in the way of Allah was a divine test for Prophet Ebrahim, which Eid al-Adha is a reminder of that.
Islam also demands that Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha every year so that they always keep these divine principles and values in mind and are always ready to make any kind of sacrifice to obey Allah’s orders and obtain Allah’s satisfaction.
Eid al-Adha is the day of proof and indication of love and submission. It is the day when a person accepts the nothingness of everything in front of the beloved, sacrifices himself and everything to him and exposes the “worship” that is the result of mysticism, intuition and seeing the beloved.
Today we have to act in a way and come to some kind of trial and test to show love and surrender like Hazrat Ebrahim (PBUH) and Hazrat Esmail (PBUH). Today we must renew the memory of the love and sacrifice of Hazrat Ebrahim, Hazrat Esmail and Hazrat Hajira (peace be upon her). Today, it should be known to what extent our love and faith are connected and to what extent we have achieved obedience and submission.
We are welcoming a great day, on this great day when Muslims make sacrifices out of habit, it is appropriate to remember Ebrahim and his great nation, which Allah Almighty commanded us to follow, and to remember that How did Hazrat Ebrahim achieve this lofty status and indeed he became Khalil Rahman. He did not reach this status until after he truly realized the meaning of “Allah Akbar”. When we all say Takbeer together on the day of Eid… (الله أكبر الله أكبر لا إله إلا الله، الله أكبر الله أكبر ولله الحمد)، If this Takbeer and its repetition are not practically realized in our lives, it will not have more value than the remembrance and prayers of the dervishes, and it will not lead to our true education, and it will not make us become followers of Ebrahim’s nation as Allah wants.
But when we give objectivity to its meanings and live with it and see it present at every moment, then that is when Allah Almighty truly and practically becomes greater than anything else in our eyes, greater than parents, spouses and family member’s wealth and greater than the whole world. this is the nation of Hazrat Ebrahim, through which he became the Imam of the people. Because Allah was greater to him than his father and his Tribe, and when they denied his nation and religion, he said to them: [وَأَعْتَزِلُكُمْ وَما تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ الله] And from you, O father! And O idol-worshipping people!) and I withdraw and stay away from what you worship except Allah. [1]
And Allah was greater with her and the believers who were with her, when they said to their people: [إِنَّا بُرَآؤُا مِنْكُمْ وَمِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ الله كَفَرْنا بِكُمْ وَبَدا بَيْنَنا وَبَيْنَكُمُ الْعَداوَةُ وَالْبَغْضاءُ أَبَداً حَتَّى تُؤْمِنُوا بِالله وَحْدَهُ] We abhor and run away from you and the things that you worship other than Allah, and we do not accept you and we are indifferent towards you, and a permanent enmity and hatred has emerged between us and you, until You believe in the One Allah and worship Him in Oneness”. [2]
Indeed, Allah was greater to him than his wife and children when he left his wife and small child in a desert without water and grass and turned his back on them and left, and when his wife called him: O Ebrahim. O Ebrahim! He did not return, because this matter was of his own accord, and Allah’s command was greater than his emotions and greater than anything else. When his wife was disappointed with his return, she said: Who ordered you to leave us in a desert without water or grass? Ebrahim said: My Lord. His wife said: So, he will not destroy us.
Look at how his wife made “Allah Akbar” come true, and when she realized that it was Allah’s will, she didn’t care about staying in that barren and waterless valley while her little child was crying, because surely, He believed that Allah is greater than anything else and as long as he fulfils Allah’s will, Allah will not waste him or his child. And it is true that Allah was greater than anything else in the eyes of Hazrat Ebrahim and his son Hazrat Esmail, when he said to him: [قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَى فِي الْمَنَامِ أَنِّي أَذْبَحُكَ فَانْظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَى قَالَ يَا أَبَتِ افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ سَتَجِدُنِي إِنْ شَاءَ الله مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ] “my child! I see in my dream that I have to kill you and sacrifice you). Look what do you think? He said: Father! Do what you are ordered to do, Allah willing, you will find me among the patient ones. [3]
I don’t know which one to be surprised by!! From the patience of Hazrat Ebrahim in obeying his Lord in the slaughter of his son, or from the patience of Hazrat Esmail and his submission and submission to Allah’s orders to the point that when his father wanted to slaughter him, he said to him: Place me on my face on the earth you made, so that you will not have mercy upon seeing my face, and this mercy and compassion will not prevent the Lord’s command from being answered. Subhanallah.
And look at Hagar’s faith and realizing the meaning of “Allah Akbar” on her part, when Satan came to her and told her that Abraham wants to slaughter your son and he thinks that Allah has ordered him to do this, Hagar. In response, he said: If his Lord ordered him to do this, then we submit to Allah’s command… May Allah reward this blessed family… father, wife and children… Allah is with them from everything. The other was bigger. It was for this reason that Allah immortalized their blessed memory and Muslims remember them every year in Hajj and sacrifice them on Eid al-Adha, like their Imam Ebrahim (PBUH) who Allah sacrificed a big sheep for his son. The meanings and concepts of this day are great, big and huge, and it is not possible to mention all of them in these lines.
So, it is up to us to train our hearts on these concepts to realize the meaning of Takbeer in all our lives.
References
[1] – Surah Maryam / Verse: 48.
[2] – Surah Al-Mumtahanah / Verse: 4.
[3] – Surah As-Saffat / Verse: 102.
