THE Festival of Sacrifice, Eid Al Adha, is an opportune time to run through the lives of Prophet Ibrahim (A) and his son, Prophet Ismail (A), to recollect the real meaning of the celebration.
Prophet Ibrahim (A) was born around 1996 BCE in Ur of the Chaldees, a house of idolaters in Babylon. Although born to a polytheist, he was gifted with divine understanding from a very young age, namely, the belief of Islamic monotheism or belief in the oneness of Allah.
His life was symbolised with the essence of Islam or ‘submission to the will of Allah”.
The Quran says, “When his Lord ordered him, ‘Submit to My Will,’ he responded, ‘I submit to the Lord of all worlds’.” (2:131).
Prophet Ibrahim (A) decided to start his mission of inviting people to Islam, starting with his father, Azar, King Nimrod and then the people. All of them were dead against monotheism; Azar was not only an idol worshipper but also a well-known idol sculptor.
Prophet Ibrahim (A) advised his father to worship Allah and to abandon all idols that could neither see nor hear. But Azar threatened him with death should he not stop preaching monotheism.
He said, “How dare you reject my idols, O Ibrahim! If you do not desist, I will certainly stone you to death. So be gone from me for a long time!”
Ibrahim responded, “Peace be upon you! I will pray to my Lord for your forgiveness. He has truly been Most Gracious to me. (19:46-47).
However, Prophet Ibrahim (A) then approached King Nimrod, who believed himself to be a god, claiming dominion over life and death.
Prophet Ibrahim (A) challenged him by arguing that Allah was the only one God, who can give life and cause death. When Nimrod retorted that he himself could do the same, Ibrahim said, “Indeed, Allah causes the sun to rise from the east; so cause it to rise from the west.”
Nimrod was unable to respond and thus he was defeated.
The debate between Prophet Ibrahim (A) and Nimrod illustrates the struggle between faith and dictatorship, and the importance of believing in one God over false idols or deities.
Prophet Ibrahim (A) then turned to the people. One day, when everyone in the city had left to celebrate a religious ceremony, he entered the temple and piled up all the idols except the biggest one on whose shoulder he hung an axe.
When people returned they could not believe what they saw. They asked Ibrahim: “Are you the one who has done this?”
“Ask the biggest one who is left unhurt,” replied Ibrahim. They said, “You know quite well that idols do not speak!”
This was exactly what Ibrahim wanted them to say. However, the logical replies of Prophet Ibrahim (A) did not bear fruit; instead the people wanted to throw him into the burning fire, saying, “Burn him to avenge your gods.” (21:68).
But, Allah wanted to save Prophet Ibrahim (A) from the fire; He ordered it to cool down.
Finally, Prophet Ibrahim (A) decided to leave the country. During his travels, he prayed for a righteous son and Allah gave him a son, Ismail (A). He took his wife, Hajera, and the suckling baby to a barren land near the ka’aba in Mecca. He entrusted them to Allah as he left to continue his mission of preaching Islam.
Within no time the water Hajer had saved ran out. She started running between Safa and Marwa in quest of water. On the seventh run, she saw a spring of water under the feet of her child. It was the miraculous water which is known as Zamzam. This running of seven times between Safa and Marwa is one of the compulsory acts of Haj.
Prophet Ibrahim (A) faced one more grave and critical test: Allah commanded him to sacrifice his son. When Prophet Ibrahim (A) told Ismail (A), he said: “O, my father! Do as thou art commanded.” (37:102). Allah was pleased with this and he ransomed Ibrahim with a momentous sacrifice (37:107) – leading to the practice of Muslims offering a sacrifice of healthy animals on the day of Eid Al Adha.
Let us, therefore, renew the message of Eid by confirming our readiness to submit to the Will of Allah.
I pray to Allah to protect our beautiful Bahrain and our wise leadership, His Majesty King Hamad and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
Wishing everyone in the kingdom a happy Eid Al Adha!
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