How the spirit of sacrifice symbolises the festival of Eid Al-Adha
God spoke to Ibrahim through a dream, wherein he visualised himself sacrificing his own son Ismail. He went up to his son and told him about it. Immediately, the obedient son was ready to surrender to God's will, as was the father to carry out his orders. When the moment arrived and the weapon was ready to strike, God sent an animal in the place of Ismail. The festival of Eid ul Adha commemorates this event and symbolises the spirit of sacrifice in a father and obedience in a son.
The commercialisation of Eid Al-Adha is against the true spirit of Islam, which does not subscribe to the concept of auctioning goats, seen in newspapers every year. It is said in the Quran; The flesh, blood and bones of the animal is not what reaches Allah through sacrifice, but the righteousness of your nature and truthfulness of your thoughts that reaches him (Quran 22:37). It is a symbol of faith and devotion not a moneymaking venture.
The animal sacrificed is always divided into three parts. One for you, second for your relatives, friends and loved ones and the third for the poor. You cannot keep the good part for yourself and give the leftovers to the rest, especially the poor. It is a lesson for everyone promoting equality. Eid Al-Adha is intricately connected to the Hajj at Mecca, where every scene of Ibrahim, his son Ismail and his wife's sacrifice, obedience and trust in God is enacted to perfection over five days. Men undertaking the Hajj are required to wear unstitched clothes, spend the day under open skies, sleep on bare rocky ground, stay away from any form of violence, exert control over all worldly desires and pray to Allah. This is undertaken to let people born in the privileged sphere experience the life of the impoverished. The spirit of equality cannot be achieved through just understanding and experience therefore, on this festival we are encouraged to share.
En route the Hajj journey, pilgrims gather at the Mountain of Mercy or "Jabal-e-Rehmat" on the great plain of Arafat. This was the place Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) stood and gave his last sermon. He said that all men were equal and implored his followers to never discriminate between people on the basis of race, caste and creed. He told them to respect and protect women as they were kept in their care by God. He told them to purge the feeling of revenge, anger and hatred from their lives and to forgive the misdeeds of others.
On September 23 this year, the pilgrims reached this mountain of mercy on Arafat and I am glad to know that on this occasion the Grand Mufti of Saudia Arabia in his sermon, declared that violence is rejected by Islam and terrorism in the name of the ISIS is condemned.
(As told to Karishma Goenka.)