With The Name of Allah, The Merciful Benefactor, The Merciful Redeemer. We seek His Guidance in all matters and Thank Him for Prophet Mohammed, His Excellent Role Model for Humanity. We offer prayers and ask Peace be upon him.
When we think about the Eid that comes on the 10th day of the month of Zul-Hajj we are looking at the movement where Prophet Muhammad (saw) left the idol worshiping that was prevalent in Mecca and moved to establish the pure worship of God in Medinah.He then returned victorious to Mecca where Islam was established for all time. We are also looking back into time at the movement of Prophet Abraham. The movement he established for thinking in rational terms about the Creator and His Creation. On average over 2.5 million Muslims attend the Hajj in Mecca, as an answer to Prophet Abraham’s prayer. "O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in a valley without cultivation, by Thy Sacred House; in order, O our Lord, that they may establish regular Prayer: so fill the hearts of some among men with love towards them, and feed them with fruits: so that they may give thanks. (Surah 14:37)
In the etymology of the word SACRAFICE are the two Latin words SACER and FACER. SACER – means Sacred, Holy. FACER means to make. As in to make acceptable to the One, that is The Holy One. Taken, as a concept Sacrifice originally meant Make acceptable to God.
The concept is a paradigm shift from taking something external and giving it as an expiation for sins or errors. The shift requires us to look not at others but within ourselves. The challenge is to make ones conduct and character acceptable to G-d. To be a living sacrifice, an actual model of Taqwa that is demonstrated in every aspect of our social and personal life.
It is easy to give someone something and feel very good about ourselves and say we have made a sacrifice. We may deprive ourself of something and say well that is the sacrifice. However, the original concept alerts us to the fact that this is not an external hollow act of atonement. This is a serious personal perpendicular alignment that will make us Saffat. This Sacrifice requires that we first be aligned under Tauheed. Our thinking must first operate under the Qur’an as our matrix. What we think is aligned with our outlook, (Eyes) which is aligned with our expressions,(Mouth) which is aligned with our good sentiments (Heart) which are aligned with our actions (Hands) which are aligned with our(Legs) movement or direction; then we will be strong in repelling evil. Before there is horizontal establishment in society there must first be perpendicular Alignment under G-d. It was the intellect of Prophet Abraham that challenged the establishment, the existing social order and their hoarding knowledge. It was his rational mind and using deductive reasoning and logic which was supported by the natural order of the creation that is what helped him to conclude that the Source of knowledge was free and the derivative knowledge should be freely accessible to all people. According to the Scripture the animal that is to be sacrificed, first has to be without defect. The animal has to be free of disease. This information says to the mind that whatever you are offering to G-d must be your best; it must be clean and not corrupt. Next we have to divide the sacrificial meat into Three sections for service. The Sacrifice is designed to benefit the family life. It is designed to assist the less fortunate and for the broader community life. Then the sacrifice does something that we would not expect it becomes that which we consume. We eat the sacrifice; we use it to fuel our life. The life of the family, the struggling among us and the community’s hopes and aspirations. This is a wonderful Sacrifice that evolves for those who are Saffat. All of this is tied to the Hajj. The macrocosmic Hajj and the Microcosmic Hajj. When Allah Says to us in Qur’an, “By those who range themselves in ranks, Those who so are strong in repelling evil, Those who thus proclaim the message of Allah! Verily, verily your God is One! [Surah Saffat -37:1-4] This Surah speaks of the character of those in this community. It speaks of their core. If we line up crooked people, no matter how straight the line they will still be crooked, they will not be effective in repelling their criminal conduct or its affects. So we know this alignment is not just a physical, external or cosmetic show of alignment. This is an alignment that starts in the microcosmic aspects of the human being and then we see its expression in that Great macrocosmic expression called the Hajj.
Decoding Scriptural Language:
Imagine a person living 3,000 or even 4,000 years ago wrestling with ways and means to share with later generations some special knowledge he has been favored with. He believes that through inspiration, he has been blessed with something of value for humanity but his experience also alerts him to the possibility that he will not be able to adequately provide this knowledge to his contemporaries. So he seeks what would be like a “Message in a Bottle” that can be cast onto the ocean of time in the hope that it will be found later by those that can benefit from the message. But he has to make sure that the message is in a form that can stand the test of the change. So he has to identify letters that can form an alphabet. From that he can form words and with those words share the message. This is serious work. The men and women that G-d inspired were not playing with their time or the message this was serious work for them. What is the alphabet? What could comprise a universal alphabet? Without knowing what language or dialect people will speak in the future, how do you make sure that whether those future folk are well educated or bi-lingual, how can you insure they will still get the message. You look for that which is constant, you look for universals. Universal images or picture words. You look for what G-d established in the environment in nature that will endur. You look for that which is constant. He knows the Sun, Moon, Stars, mountains, rivers, wind, water, all of these are constants. Their various stages are predictable. Water when heated will produce an invisible vapor, when frozen will make ice. So those wise people formed picture words from the natural surrounding of those universal constants and engaged in a conversation that transcends time.
They conveyed their message utilizing the vocabulary of nature and upon that landscape sent their message through time. So-called modern man then has the task of first understanding that G-d has prepared, provided, and preserved His guidance for humanity. Then man must discerns the Universal aspect of G-d’s revelation and seek to decipher the message so it can be not only appreciated but also applied in the present time. Thus man discovers the natural language in picture form as the vehicle for preserving the message. Then with an adult mind, the man unravels the guidance for his contemporary world. He cannot get the real benefit if he reverts to or relies solely upon the period of the conveyer of the message. To perform this monumental task G-d has blessed the contemporary time with the Decoder Extraordinaire
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, I am one of his students.
We must probe beyond the pistons of motivation, past the seat of locomotion until we arrive at the spring of desire whose home is Soul satisfaction in pleasing its Creator.
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