The Eid of Sacrifice

As-Salaamu alaikum!

In the occasion of Hajj and Eid, the best thing to reflect on is Sacrifice. All Hajj rituals are about sacrifice. The trip itself is about sacrifice of time and money. Likewise, Eid-ul-Adha, which is the festival where we offer a sacrifice to Allah and commemorate the great courage and sacrifice of our father Ibraheem (P.b.u.h.) is about learning how to give away the most precious things we think we own. We read in the Qur’an:

“Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: "O my son! I see in vision that I offer you in sacrifice: now see what is your view!" (The son) said: "O my father! Do as you are commanded: you will find me, if Allah so wills, one practicing Patience and Constancy!" So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice), We called out to him, "O Abraham! “You have already fulfilled the vision!" thus indeed do We reward those who do right. For this was obviously a trial. And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice” (37:107)

The question, which may come to one’s mind in this context is the following: Did Allah want Ibraheem (P.b.u.h.) to kill Ismael (P.b.u.h.)? Could any father accept this trial? Certainly not!
Allah (swt) tested Ibraheem to see how committed he was to His cause. Any person would say: Well! Didn’t Allah test him when he was thrown in the burning fire of the ditch when he was in Mesopotamia! The answer is: the two trials are different! The first one with king Nemrud was a salvation and rescue to Ibraheem (S) from the plan of the enemy of Allah Nemrud, but in the second trial it was a divine order to do something that any father would refuse to do.
I believe this last trial was tougher than the first one for many reasons:

1- In this trial, Ibraheem was ordered to kill his only son at that time after he awaited for an offspring for a very long time. When Ismael was born Ibraheem was over his eighties. Then when the son was 14 Allah wanted him to slaughter him. Why would he have to kill a son that he got after a lot of prayer and supplication?

2- When Ibraheem was thrown in fire he was a young man who did not have somebody depending on him. It’s true no one could go through this test like he did, but thinking for others; his family and followers is not easier; sometimes parents would go for death to save their children. Therefore, the option of dying instead of his son for sacrifice was not there. The most amazing thing is that the killer had to be the father himself. From another side, this act could not be seen as an injustice or oppression of a tyrant such as Nemrud, but it was an order from Allah who does not allow oppression and injustice.

3- With patience and perseverance, some people can endure some physical pain and suffer some material losses which Could lead even to death, but to make others – especially one’s child- suffer and feel pain and death is more painful. In this case, the father is ordered to slaughter his son without showing the reason for that.

Allah called this trial a great one when He said, “For this was obviously a great trial.?; We can keep reasoning and elucidating, but we will probably never finish. However, the most important thing we should keep in our minds is that Allah knows better than us even if we sometimes think that a certain action is not clear to us and why we perform it. We should accept and submit to Allah. As a matter of fact, one of the meanings of Islam is acceptance.

All Islam is indeed about sacrifice in order to attain the pleasure of Allah, piety, and righteousness. Muslims won’t succeed in their lives until they learn again how to sacrifice the dearest things such as time and money among themselves beginning with their families, relatives, and neighbors and every person who needs help. In fact, the secret behind the success of the first Muslim generations was their sacrifice for the religion of Islam. This was the result of a deep understanding of Islam and its essence.
Allah (swt) says,
“By no means shall you attain righteousness unless you give (freely) of that which you love; and whatever you give, of a truth Allah knows it well.” (3:92)

And He also says,
“It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards East or West; but it is righteousness to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity, to fulfil the contracts which you have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the God-fearing. (2:177)

The above underlined parts of these two ayahs summarize all what I mentioned previously. Therefore, if we want Islam to flourish again in our hearts, families, and society we simply need to sacrifice more and more of our time, wealth, experience, and skills. The companions of the Prophet (S) always saw themselves as if they were neglectors of their duties and many of them did not content with what many people today would think as a good practicing of Islam.

Finally, I would like to add a very important remark. Offering a sacrifice on the day of Eid is not something optional, but it is rather an obligatory act for those who can afford to do it. Many people think that it’s okay not to present a sacrifice to Allah on the tenth of Dhil-Hijjah and content with only the Eid prayer. I say to my dear Muslim brothers and sisters: Eid -ul-Adha is not just about eating lamb meat and distributing it to the poor people, but it is more about the ritual of the sacrifice and the offering of the animal to Allah (swt). Unfortunately, many young generations have not experienced the spirit of Eid-ul-Adha as we used to do when we were children and as it’s still engraved in our minds. We have always called this Eid of Sacrifice the Big Eid because Eid-ul-Fitr comes after Ramadan, which is a great month where everybody fasts, and this Eid has been always a Eid where we enjoyed the actual sacrifice and the family ambiance where everyone helps to clean, cook, share and distribute the meat. I hope this Eid will mean something for the younger generations to come in the next five or ten years from now.
Imam Hamid Slimi