Thoughts on Eid-al-Adha / Eid-ul-Zuha / Bakr-Eid – A Holiest Muslim Festival

Thoughts on Eid-al-Adha / Eid-ul-Zuha / Bakr-Eid

 Give this day by any name thee may prefer to call

Eid-Al-Adha

Or Eid-Ul-Adha

Eid-Ul-Zuha

Or Bakr-Eid simply for us all

Makes little difference us

Factually it is a festival of sacrifice

The festival of giving anything

Most precious that one has for giving

Thereby solidifying our faith in Almighty God

The custom that started

When most venerable Abraham offered

His only son named Ismail

At the command of Allah

Without even the slightest demur of any sort

A reality check or test

Which God wanted

From devout Abraham

And also his son Ismail

Lo and behold!

After actually offering

Supreme sacrifice

Surprise of surprises

Found a slaughtered lamb!

Meaning benevolent God

Tested the love and resolve of Abraham

For Him – the benevolent One

While Abraham was obeying

The commandments of God

Satan made attempts to dissuade Abraham

Not to sacrifice his only son

But he did not care to listen to satan

The diverter of our attention from Him and His Commandments

Instead obeyed the commands of Allah

And left for us all,

An enduring message

God loves those who obey Him

And are ready to sacrifice anything

On His bidding

May this day brings a feeling of self-sacrifice

So that needs of all are met

By distributing love amongst all

Let’s all pray and sacrifice our ego

Which divides humanity from each other

fOR THE OVERALL WELLBEING OF HUMANKIND AROUND THE WORLD.

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Thoughts on Eid-al-Adha / Eid-ul-Zuha / Bakr-Eid

Thoughts on Eid-al-Adha / Eid-ul-Zuha / Bakr-Eid – A Holiest Muslim Festival

Eid means festival and Eid-al-Adha means Festival of sacrifice or it is termed as Bakr-Eid meaning celebration with the sacrifice of a goat. This festival is celebrated with great solemnity and reverence across the world as a tribute to Prophet Ibrahim’s rock-solid belief in God. He willingly agreed to sacrifice his beloved son Abraham as ordained by God.

Here, Abraham’s love and reverence are of prime importance. Legend has it that Abraham agreed without even the slightest doubt to sacrifice his only promised son named Ismail on the express command of God. God wanted to test the love of Abraham for the general masses. Subsequently, before it could be done, Allah intervened and instead provided Abraham a lamb for the sacrifice that is why this day of sacrifice is also termed as Bakr’Eid. At that time the age of Abraham was 99 years and his son only 13 years.

This was also a test of Ismail’s maturity and faith in Allah. He himself offered to be sacrificed. When his father mentioned his (son’s) impending sacrifice, without any reservation the son offered himself. All this is evidence that it was not merely father Abraham but also Ismail was having faith in Allah commandments. It was really unprecedented. Willingness on the part of both father and son to accept the will of God is dear to both besides being dear to our     God.

It goes to show that the will of Allah prevailed and His grace was evident while He provided a lamb for sacrifice in place of Abraham. It also goes to show that our benevolent God tests our sacrificing spirit even the precious of all our only son, in the real sense of terms.

Besides, remaining steadfast to the will of our God too was under test. In the meanwhile, the Satan intervenes to pollute the mind of Abraham and exhorts him for not obeying the commandments of beloved God. But Abraham remained committed to the will of God and that is why this day is remembered as a day of sacrifice.

Devout visit Mecca to offer prayers on this day.

Apart from prayers, offering sacrifice (Qurbani) is also undertaken. Then the meat of the sacrificed goat, a healthy one, is distributed amongst family, friends and also given to the needy ones. May this day engender in the general masses a spirit of self-sacrifice for others’ welfare.