Sacrifice: The Making of a Muslim!

Dhul Hijjah, 1432AH

~~~~~~~~~

Indeed, all praise and thanks are due to Allaah. We praise Him; seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek protection from Him from the evils of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, no one can misguide him, and whomever He sends astray, there is no other guide for him. I testify that nothing has any right to be worshipped except Allaah alone, having no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger-may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, his family, companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:

Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullaah wa barakatuuh.

The month of Dhul-Hijjah has come upon us and with it milllions of pilgrims have gathered in the Holy city of Makkah to perform the rites of Hajj, answering the noble call that Prophet Ibrahim (Alayhis-salaam) made ages ago:

وَأَذِّن فِى ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْحَجِّ يَأْتُوكَ رِجَالًا وَعَلَىٰ كُلِّ ضَامِرٍ يَأْتِينَ مِن كُلِّ فَجٍّ عَمِيقٍ ﴿٢٧

Q22:27. And proclaim to mankind the Hajj (pilgrimage). They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, they will come from every deep and distant (wide) mountain highway (to perform Hajj).

In performing the rites of Hajj, we are constantly aware of the story of Ibrahim (Alayhis-salaam) and his legacies from the building of the Ka’bah, to his prayer at the Maqam Ibrahim, to the sae between Safa and Marwa, to the spring of Zam-zam, to the standing on the Mount of Arafat, to the stoning of the Jamaraat and to its culmination ultimately in the sacrifice on the day of Eid.

We see in him a life filled with different forms of sacrifice: emigration from his homeland of shirk at a young age, spending his youth and vitality in the call to Allaah, giving up his wife and child in a barren land, expending his energy in the building of the Ka’abah and submission to the will of Allaah to sacrifice his son.

This month, I’m looking at all the little and big ways, the obvious and obscure ways, the easy and hard ways in which sacrifice is mentioned and enjoined upon us in the Noble Quran. I hope that at the end of this month we’ll comprehend better that it is truly not the meat that reaches Allaah but its the heart’s submission and profession as the Rasul (peace&blessings of Allaah be upon him) was commanded to say in Suuratul An-‘Aam Verse 162:

Say, Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds!

PS: Its verses such as Q22:27 above that reminds me of how truly noble and TRUE this deen is and how it spans generations of mankind, and how something that is such an essential part of our deen was actually legislated long before the Rasul (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was raised as a messenger. Indeed, this deen and worship is truly for Allaah alone and I’m so grateful to have been favored with His guidance.