ETHOS OF QURBANI
jabed ahmed" onick_999@yahoo.com , 12 November, 2010:
"It is neither their flesh nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it is your Taqwa that reaches Him…" (Surah Hajj)
Ibraheem (Alayhis Salaam) had two alternatives: either to follow the cry of his heart or to submit to the call of his Creator. He chose to submit. Qurbani therefore is not a monetary Ibaadah or a duty that is discharged in distant poor countries. Qurbani is a personal experience, an intimate and emotional encounter, an intimate occurrence made real by the oozing of blood.
Qurbani is:
- Love for Allah in contrast to love of self obedience.
- Loyalty to Allah in preference to loyalty to the family.
- Faith versus emotion.
- Struggle as opposed to pleasure.
Where is this spirit of Qurbani in our idle and aimless nights and days? Who is able to place the knife on his heart in order to slaughter the beasts of rebellion, hatred, jealousy, pride, and greed etc.? Qurbani is an annual reaffirmation of our pledge to Allah, a pledge that:“Verily my prayer, my sacrifices, my life and my death are surrendered to Allah; the Rabb of the worlds."
Eid-ul-Adha reverberates with the cries of surrender, submission, and sacrifice. It is a great reminder to all humanity of the importance of principles, such as, action, struggle, endurance, faith, repentance, honesty, simplicity, equality and concern for the dispossessed and the poor. It also teaches us that we share a common humanity that should inspire us to work together as one people for the good of our country. We should let the values of love, sacrifice and compassion; influence our every day interactions with one another, irrespective of ethnic and religious origin .