Eid Mubarak! Eid al-Adha is the 10th day of Dhul Hijjah. Many people will probably not know that Eid al-Adha is the better of the two Eid’s. The reason for this is that Eid al-Adha combines many acts of worship which are not combined on any other day, such as the Eid prayer, the qurbani, reciting takbeer, and widespread remembrance of Allah. For the Hajji’s in Makkah, it also includes stoning the pillars representing Shaytaan in Jamaraat, cutting the hair, and performing tawaf and sa’ee (between Safa and Marwah). In addition, the festival comes after Hajj when Muslims are forgiven for their sins and can start with a clean slate. It should be noted that Hajj is completed on the Day of Arafah when everyone gathers in the plain of Arafah and makes duah to Allah (swt).
What is it that we do on Eid al-Adha exactly? The whole tradition is to honor Prophet Ibrahim (as). Allah (swt) told Ibrahim (as) to sacrifice his son, Ismail (as). But right before Ibrahim (as) could use the blade on his son, Allah (swt) the All Merciful sent down a ram instead for sacrifice. So therefore, in commemoration of this, an animal is sacrificed ritually and divided into 3 parts: One for the poor, one for the home, and the third is given to relatives. So from this we can also derive that Ibrahim (as) was prepared to make an ultimate sacrifice, Allah (swt) prevented the sacrifice additionally signifying that one should never sacrifice a human life especially in the name of Allah (swt)
I wanted to share a couple of things that I think are important to reflect upon. Subhan’Allah, Allah (swt) gave Ibrahim (as) such difficult tasks to fulfill and it’s astonishing to note how he was willing and committed to every one of the tasks. Whether it was being commanded to sacrifice his son, or leave his wife and son in the desert, Ibrahim (as) was ready. There was no complaining or questions being asked. This is what we need to learn from Ibrahim (as). This is true submission to the will of Allah (swt) which the majority of the ummah today lacks. We as an ummah complain about the deen being too hard or too much to handle when in reality we have it extremely easy compared to Ibrahim (as). We complain of having too many salah, too much fasting, or too many restrictions on things being haram. We ask questions and try to justify haram acts by saying that the whole civilized world does this and that so why can’t we? May Allah (swt) guide us all and accept from us. Ameen.
My Daily Deen 