By Zahir Muhammad Mannan

Convey to mankind; ‘Surely myself (Muhammad) and my guidance and my Lord take me to the true path of perfect enlightenment and ultimate protection from any weakness. This is the ultimate and everlasting religion which was treaded before by Abraham, the one who ever inclined towards goodness and was upright. And he was not from among those who depended upon anything other than the True God.’ Convey also to everyone this ultimate truth; ‘Truly, my obligations and prayers, my purity and sacrifices, this very short life that I was given, and my fast approaching death that I will experience, all rightfully belong to the One God from Whom all these graces emanated and Who is the real Originator of all things.’ (Al Qur’an 6:162-163)

We all know of the upright Patriarch Prophet Abraham (p.b.u.h.) who we find as an honorable mention in almost every religion. So what’s so special about him? Well, the main answer lies within a special commemoration being observed these very days by over one third of the world’s population, that is, ‘Eid ul Adha or the celebration of the power and spirit of sacrifice. Literally translated from Arabic though ‘Eid (‘ain ya daal) means to reproduce and excel, so ‘Eid ul Adha in Arabic would actually mean to reproduce and even excel in the selfless act of sacrifice (s). What sacrifice (s) is one asked to reproduce? This brings us back to our central figure, “our father” Abraham (22:79), who is recorded in multiple Holy Books to have had an unusual dream from (apparently) God Almighty of sacrificing his first born. Frightening isn’t it? Not to Abraham though, because he always inclined towards the goodness inherent in everything. Not only did he believe this message was from God, The Patient, in the form of a dream, but he took it seriously and with boldness and bravery materialized God’s gruesome command (or so he interpreted). But he wasn’t the only one, when asked about his thoughts about the dream, his beloved adolescent first born, whom he prayed sincerely to have (37:101), faithfully and patiently proclaims, “Do as thou art commanded (37:103)”. Completely resigned to the will of his Father in Heaven, the Wise Creator, Abraham’s first born becomes a strong devout soldier by submitting without falter to the Commander in Chief in Heaven. Whether his identity was Ishmael or Isaac is irrespective of the underlying lesson here. Anyway, there are many lessons to learn from this famous story which echoes across manifold religions. The chief principles to take home, however, are those of faith and obedience which stem from the titanium branch of sacrifice and ultimately from the intoxicating trunk of love. Faith that the unexpected dream, interestingly not verbal directive, was in fact from the apparently merciful God. Obedience to the command of God regardless of its shocking abnormality. Sacrificing from that which you love most in this life so as to purify yourself and your devotion continuously until the only worthy love that remains is God itself, the Source of all sources. This is why God stopped Abraham from actually fulfilling the dream, because God, the All Aware, saw that Abraham was literally about to pierce the blade into the flesh of his beloved son and announced, “‘You have surely fulfilled your dream’” (37:106). Thus did God reward those who inclined towards and performed goodness. Surely that was a powerfully manifest trial and God ransomed him with a quaking sacrifice. Would any of us do the same? I think we all know the answer to that. So, God tells us to remember this faith shacking tribulation simply through prayers and the sacrificing of a lamb which, in the language of dreams, symbolizes a son.