Learning sacrifice and love from Eid Al-Adha

JESSICA AYA HARN

Eid Al-Adha, one of the holiest holidays in Islam, is the celebration of Prophet Ibrahim’s devotion and love towards God, as shown in his willingness to even sacrifice his own son for Allah. Before Ibrahim could sacrifice his son however, God provided a sacrificial lamb instead, saving Ibrahim’s son and rewarding him with love and mercy.

Muslims around the world therefore celebrate Eid Al-Adha as the end of the Hajj pilgrimage in a commemoration of devotion and worship to Allah. Animals are sacrificed in remembrance of Prophet Ibrahim’s own offer of sacrifice, with one third of the animal given to charity, another third to family, friends, or neighbors, and the final third towards one’s own home.

Although Eid Al-Adha is a time for family gatherings, community worship, and communal acts of charity, many Muslims, including myself, find Eid Al-Adha a time for solitary spiritual reflection. In remembrance of Prophet Ibrahim’s sacrifice and devotion towards God, Eid Al-Adha can be an important time for deep personal reflection.

With the stories of Prophet Ibrahim’s sacrifice and the thought of millions of Muslims making the pilgrimage of Hajj, it can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. What have we done in our lives to compare to the sacrifice that Ibrahim made to Allah? Are we truly being proactive in our actions as Muslims, or have we simply become compliant Muslims, who may only do the physical acts of worship but are lacking in the spiritual devotion towards God?

He [Ibrahim] said, ‘Unless my Lord guides me, I will surely be among the people gone astray.'”

[Quran 6:77]

By understanding why Prophet Ibrahim made the sacrifice, and why millions of Muslims sacrifice so much to go on the pilgrimage of Hajj, we can try to increase our own daily sacrifices in our devotion towards God. The simple reason why Prophet Ibrahim was able to so willingly sacrifice his own son was because of his love for Allah. His love for Allah is arguably the strongest reason why he was rewarded so much by God with the sparing of his son. The millions of Muslims who also make the annual pilgrimage of Hajj do this not because it is forced, but because this is one of the greatest acts of love one can do for Allah.

Without a deeply conscious love for God, no amount of sacrifice will ever be sufficient. Being proactive in your love and fully understanding and feeling your love for Allah can come in many forms. It can be simply reflecting and thinking. It can be reading Quran. It can be going into nature and wondering at the miracles of Allah. It comes in an infinite number of ways, which allows us no excuse to not live our lives in full love and devotion towards God.

Once this level of conscious love for God becomes a part of your spirituality, the sacrifices you make for Allah will flow naturally. No sacrifice can be made without love. And because each sacrifice you make, whether it be small or big, is coming from a place a love, this in turn becomes a holy act of devotion and worship towards God. That is what Prophet Ibrahim taught us, and that is what symbolizes the pilgrimage of Hajj every year.

We called to him, ‘O Abraham, You have fulfilled the vision.’ Indeed, We thus reward the doers of good. Indeed, this was the clear trial. And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice, And We left for him [favorable mention] among later generations: ‘Peace upon Abraham’. Indeed, We thus reward the doers of good.”

[Quran 37:104-110]

So this Eid Al-Adha, let it be a time for charity, celebrations, and acts of worship. But let it also be a time for quiet reflection and remembrance to strengthen our love for God. Without this core strength, of being conscious in our love for Allah, we can never hope to live our lives as truly submitting Muslims. May we all be blessed this Eid, and inshallah find the strength and love to live full and spiritual lives.

Is Saudi Arabia getting Eid wrong? Meet the British Muslim on a moon mission

Taufiq Wan

Londoner Imad Ahmed wants to revive the Islamic tradition of celestial observation [NCS]

Has Saudi Arabia been faking lunar sightings ahead of Eid and Ramadan? This British Muslim is one of a growing number who think so.

A moon war is raging in the Muslim world, with many gripped in a divisive debate over Earth’s closest celestial body. At the centre of the matter lies one crucial question – has Saudi Arabia been faking its sightings of the moon?

For Muslims, whose religious calendars are based on the moon’s cycles, this is no small matter. The sighting of the moon’s new crescent indicates the start of each month of the Islamic calendar, and in turn the dates of Muslim religious festivities.

In the West, disagreements between those who follow Saudi moonsighting announcements and those who prefer more local reports have resulted in neighbouring mosques beginning the Ramadan fast separately, as well as the odd phenomena of members the same household celebrating eid on different days.

Now, with the festival of Eid al-Adha on the horizon, the moon wars have been in full swing.

Eid on Sunday or Monday?

Among Arab states, there has been disagreement about the date of Eid al-Adha, with Saudi Arabia having announced it for August 11, while Omani and Moroccan authorities have declared it would be the day after.

	Imad Ahmed says Saudi Arabia's reports are not credible [NCS]

In the United Kingdom, meanwhile, a movement of amateur astronomers is challenging Saudi Arabia’s ‘fake’ moonsighting announcements. Among them is Imad Ahmed, founder of the New Crescent Society - a group dedicated to reviving the Islamic tradition of celestial observation.

"The problem in particular with Saudi Arabia is that all year round, they don't do moonsightings. They use the Umm al-Qura calendar which is based on calculations, but that often means that their calendar is one day ahead of those based on physical sightings of the moon," Imad explains.

"So when they do carry out moonsightings, or claim to do so, they end up doing it one day early. Sometimes - and there are many instances in history of this - Saudi Arabia has even claimed the moon has been sighted when it was in fact below the horizon. We know that’s not possible from our data and this is a cause for alarm."

Saudi Arabia has even claimed the moon has been sighted when it was in fact below the horizon. We know that’s not possible from our data and this is a cause for alarm

Armed with this information, the East Londoner has travelled across the UK to promote the idea that British Muslims should carry out their own moonsightings and stop relying on foreign authorities - including Saudi Arabia.

Growing momentum 

	Moonsighting groups are springing up across the UK [NCS]

Up and down Britain, it seems many are in agreement with Imad, eager to gather at local vantage points to sight the moon for themselves.

"The response has been incredible – we have been contacted by people up and down the country who are enthusiastic about taking back control of the Islamic Calendar in the UK," Imad told The New Arab.

"People don’t want to outsource this incredible tradition – they want to enjoy being part of a shared heritage, where they can teach their children astronomy and to enjoy nature. We have more people contacting us to help them sight the moon than we can logistically manage right now!"

As a result of The New Crescent Society's work, much of which is promoted through its Facebook page of around 8,000 followers, Muslims across Britain have set up monthly moonsighting events to gather at local hills, fields and even in London's iconic Shard tower to see if they can spot the crescent moon.

In conjunction with the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, The New Crescent Society has also held regular 'Astronomy and Islam' events, where members of the public can learn about the history of Islamic astronomy and how to sight the moon's new crescent themselves. As part of this cooperation, the Royal Observatory held its first ever live moonsighting streamed on Facebook to mark the beginning of Ramadan in 2018.

The New Crescent Society has worked with the Royal Observatory in Greenwich to promote amateur astronomy [NCS]

Now with Eid al-Adha on the horizon, the New Crescent Society has compiled a growing list of over 300 British mosques that have declared that they will be following local moonsighting reports. According to local sightings, Eid will be on Monday in Britain.

Imad believes that breaking away from Saudi moonsightings will encourage unity among British Muslims, both with each other and with the universe around them.

"By establishing local moonsightings, people learn more about astronomy, more about Muslim heritage and become better connected to nature. This would bring the community together," Imad told The New Arab.

"It doesn’t matter if youre Sunni, Shia, Arab, Iranian, Brelwi, Deobandi or a white British convert - there would be one thing we can agree upon: Did we see the moon or not?"

Eroding Saudi influence?The growth of local moonsighting groups in Britain comes at a time of worldwide disillusionment in Saudi Arabia as a moral and religious authority. Riyadh's involvement in Yemen's brutal war, which has been dubbed by the UN as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, has greatly undermined the state's credibility among Muslims.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's crackdown on dissent in the ultra conservative kingdom has also swept up popular clerics and religious figures - one of whom is facing death for simply calling for unity between rival Muslim states.

While the majority of the world's Muslims have never fully bought into Saudi Arabia's petrodollar-backed propogation of Wahhabism, one religious matter which many still defer authority to the kingdom over is moonsightings. However, if this changes, it is likely that Saudi Arabia will lose even more influence over the religious affairs of Muslims outside of the kingdom.

It doesn’t matter if youre Sunni, Shia, Arab, Iranian, Brelwi, Deobandi or a white British convert - there would be one thing we can agree upon: Did we see the moon or not?

"If Muslims find about the problems of following a foreign moonsighting, especially when they [Saudi Arabia] mix calculations with moonsightings and seem to get reports when we know the moon is not visible, will have many asking ‘why should we follow that country?'" Imad says.

For him, it is high time that British Muslims held their own moonsightings and took control of their own Islamic calendar.

"For many Muslims living in the UK – the penny has dropped. It is now irrefutable that Saudi Arabia’s moonsightings are not credible," Imad told The New Arab in response to Saudi Arabia's latest controversial moonsighting report.

"At New Crescent Society we would urge people to stay away from controversy, and rather than blaming Saudi Arabia, focus on building moonsighting systems here in the UK. Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa and Morocco all do their own moonsightings – so it’s time we did too!"

Let this Eid unite us!

Let this Eid unite us! We all should rise above our difference and stand united. That is the greatest gift which Eid has to offer Javeed Ali All gratitude to Allah Almighty for bestowing on us the blessings of Ramadan. Let’s hope and pray that we continue our good deeds and religious obligations with the same zeal and zest as we performed in the holy month of Ramadan. I am writing this piece with the hope that this message goes to all the Muslim scholars and clerics of the world who have been enjoined a sensitive and responsible job of leading and preaching the Muslim Ummah. I am not a religious scholar or a political activist. You are more aware about the religion and world happenings than me. I am writing this message with an urge to request you to use your deep and profound knowledge for the unity of Muslim Ummah. We are living in times where your mere ‘slip of tongue’ reaches even to the person sitting millions of miles away. So your set of words can make or mar the Muslim Ummah. You have your constituency and share of followers. They listen to your lectures and sermons with the belief that you are guiding them on the right path. So their bright future prospects lies on your guardianship if it is in line with the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and Holy Qur’an. It’s crystal clear that you have a huge responsibility on your shoulders to take the Muslim Ummah on the path of righteousness and salvation. You should aware the people the importance of unity in Islam and teach lessons of moral ethics. The pulpit should not be used to issue Fatwas (religious decree) of hatred and disbelief against the fellow Muslims. We should firmly believe that unity of Muslim Ummah is for the good of Islam and anyone who works against unity is damaging the principles of Islam. There are hundreds of reasons and traditions which call for unity instead of splitting the Muslim Ummah. Some clerics just for monetary benefits and fame pit people against each other by their hate and provocative speeches. We should not allow these people to sit on the sacred place of Islam which is to give life to humanity instead of death and destruction. Holy Qur’an – the final revelation to mankind – has quite emphatically and unambiguously stressed the importance of unity and peaceful co-existence. “And hold fast by the covenant of Allah all together and be not divided” (Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse No. 103). When the Holy Qur’an lays such strong emphasis on unity, how can those creating discord and spreading venom claim to be the true followers of Islam! We are trapped in a distressing situation now. Very frequently we see clerics challenging each other for a Munazira (open debate) on trivial issues through social media. Our enemies are making plots against Islam and Islamic traditions and we are wasting time on cursing each other. The fault within us is that we listen more to that cleric who divides us than the one who unites us. Today, the enemies of Islam and humanity are hell-bent on dividing Muslims on sectarian lines. They use social media to spread hate among various sects, which eventually becomes the cause of conflict and estrangement between the various communities. America, Israel, Britain and their allies have made a staggering investment in the sectarianism/takfirism project to divide people and to malign the image of Islam, which is the fastest growing religion in the West. To foil their nefarious designs, it is of utmost importance to forge unity and stand in solidarity with each other. The best moment to get Muslims united is during the time of Islamic events or festivals. For instance, during the time of Hajj pilgrimage as people from all over the world converge at one place. They can converse with each other and can urge their respective leaders to get united under one platform. Likewise, the festival of Eid can also be utilised for the same purpose. Imam Khomeini (R.A.), the leader of the Islamic revolution in Iran, was a strong advocate of Islamic unity and brotherhood. “We Muslims are busy bickering over whether to fold our hands in prayer or not, while the enemy is devising plans to chop them off,” he once said. He always urged Muslims to unite against the enemies of Islam. The week of unity (Hafta-e-Wahdat), which is observed in the month of Rabiul Awwal to mark the birth anniversary of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), was an idea originally proposed by him to bring Muslims closer. Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, has quite admirably followed on the footsteps of his mentor. “Those who provoke Sunni Muslims against the Shias and Shia Muslims against the Sunnis support neither Shia nor the Sunni. They are opposed to Islam and work for the enemies of Islam.” he reiterated it number of times. Ayatollah Sistani has also been a strong votary of Muslim brotherhood. Sunnis, he has repeatedly said, are “not our brothers, but our souls”. Before Christopher Columbus discovered America and Europeans embraced civilization, Muslims had already made huge advances in various fields. The decline started when Muslims became prey to the vicious plots of enemies and got divided into sects and groups. Let’s wish and pray that our religious scholars and clerics will make solemn pledge on this Eid to unite Muslim Ummah and will pray Eid prayers together standing shoulder to shoulder with each school of thought. This noble gesture will bring the happiness of Allah Almighty and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and will help us to unite the splintered Muslim Ummah. May this Eid bring peace and unity among all of us. Aameen.