Is God your priority?
Id ul-Zuha, the festival of sacrifice, is the culmination of the Haj pilgrimage. It is celebrated on the 10th of Dhul Hijja, the 12th and last month of the Islamic calendar. The day begins with a congregational prayer followed by a sermon. Those who can afford it sacrifice an animal to celebrate the name of Allah over the sustenance He provides. The meat is divided into three parts. The family retains one-third of the meat; another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbours, while the other third is distributed among the poor and needy.
Muslims celebrate the festival to commemorate the trials and triumph of Prophet Abraham, the father of prophets. In Pagan times, the sacrifice of children to appease gods was common. Abraham had shunned Pagan practices and wished to remain sincere to the One God. Yet, he knew the vision he had seen commanding him to sacrifice his son was from God.
When Abraham told his son of the trial, Ishmael told his father not to hesitate in obeying the command and he would be patient and willing. Before the knife reached Ishmael’s throat, God
intervened and provided him with a ram for the sacrifice.
There can be no greater tribulation than being asked to sacrifice one’s child, yet Abraham and his son were both in a state of complete submission to God. Abraham placed God on priority; his prayer, rituals, life and death for God alone. With full faith in the One God, Abraham believed that the Almighty would guide him. God rewarded him for the obedience and gave Abraham glad tidings of another righteous son. Abraham remained grateful for God’s blessings and reached the high rank of God’s friend.
If we want to know where we stand with God, we need to ask ourselves where God stands with us. If God is a high priority with us, then we can be sure that we are a high priority with Him. If we place God low on our list of priorities, then He too places us at a low rank. Situations in life are never the same and one should remember that easy times follow hard times, and hard times follow easy times. In times of tribulation, it helps to remember that the God of prosperity is also the God of hardship.
The Quran speaks of Abraham as an exemplar for mankind, one who recognised the falsehoods of the society he lived in. Id is an occasion to renew our covenant with God, realise the illusions of our time, reject worldly trappings and make God our priority. This requires striving to free oneself of greed and refusing to do something for ulterior motives that is selfish and
disconnected with the teachings of prophets, sufis and sages.
Sadia Dehlvi is a Delhi-based writer and author of Sufism: The Heart of Islam.
She can be contacted at sadiafeedback@gmail.com
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