THIS DAY OF SACRIFCE

Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Laa ilaha illalah. Your witnessing this day is a special blessing from Allah (To renew our deed so that we can be successful in life hereafter). Many people like you witnessed this same day of Shabaan, Ramadān...eidul-Adha.. last year but have now returned to the world of no return. It is a day when Allah tests sincerity of men. Millions of Muslims will slaughter rams but how many of them will solely do it with all the attendant conditions for Allah alone? It is a day when every Muslim must appreciate Allah for all His boundless favours. It is a day of unity when Muslims locally and internationally converge at one point to pray together. This gathering does not leave anybody behind. It is indeed a day of reflection. It was the sacrifice of one man that culminates in this festival. So, we must remember this great man and his son. We must appraise our devotion to Allah. We must ask what kind of sacrifice we make to please our Lord. We must ask where our faith lies. We must ask if as fathers or children we are devoted to Allah. We must ask what kind of legacy we are bequeathing posterity. A society is an amalgam of communities and a community is a conglomerate of families. Every member of the society belongs to a family. Each family unit begins with the husband and wife or father and mother or a parent. Children belong to where they are born. Nobody can claim that he is born without a father and a mother. In other words, all that are born belong to a unit of the family. Drawing from all these backgrounds is the fact that, if living in the world is peaceful and secure, the credits go back to all or some of the families and thus, they are commendable. But, if otherwise, the rebuke goes back to all or some of the families, and thus they are condemnable. The thieves, armed-robbers, touts, urchins, tyrants, embezzlers, murderers, assassins, drunkards, fornicators, adulterers, bastards, liars, lesbians, homosexuals, idolaters, corrupt leaders, etc., have their different families. It logically follows, then, that the families from which these people of negative tendencies emerged have woefully failed to properly bring them up. Consequently, such families should be held liable for all the evils in the society. It is indeed ironical that parents and or children who do not observe the daily salaat correctly with its due tend to be the buyers of the biggest rams for eidul-Adha! Alas, the only attachment some so-called Muslims have with Islām is the celebration of the Eidul Fitr or Adhā. That is all, because they will wear new cloth, eat ram and go to recreational places! One could say without mincing words that on occasions like this, we know who the true Muslims are. They compuct themselves within the confine of Islam even while celebrating. It is the ignoramuses who go outside the bounds. Eidul-Adha is a mirror of our homes. It is a festival which reminds us how we should live as Muslim families. This, we draw the cue from Prophet Ibrahim and his family. It reminds us of the essence of tawheed. But today some if not most families believe in the potency of talisman and fortune telling and not in Allah, the Creator of all. No Salāt, because they have to acquire enough modern education! No fasting, because it will weaken them to do their reading and other assignments. Then, where is the Islāmic family? Failure to save your soul and that of your family will unfailingly mean failure to enter Al-jannah for you. It is very possible that you are good and do other things Islām requires of you. But are you only an individual. Islām takes into full consideration the havoc that can be caused to the entire society if there should be a problem of transgression and disobedience from your family. You have to know what Islamic demands are. Spring into action and let your families (especially your wife and children) do the good deeds you are also doing. Spread the knowledge of Islām amongst them. Teach them the various etiquettes of the Prophet (SAW). Teach them how to read the Qur’ān. Establish Islamic culture in your house. Whatever good things have been associated with Islām or the Muslims should reign supreme in your house. Let them know the significance of the Salāt time and observe it accordingly. Let them see reason why they must fast in Ramadān. Do not just force them to do or observe Islamic practices, you should explain to them with wisdom, why such practices are the best for them. When you are gong to the mosque let your male children follow you. Let the female observe their Sālat with their mothers at home, unless you are going to the mosque together. Provide for them, according to your ability, their needs in terms of feeding, clothing and shelter. By that you can gain their confidence and retain them genuinely in Islām. Do not hesitate to frown at and condemn anything anti-Islām they do and explain its implication to them. Create or fix a time for regular discussion with your family. Let there be information flow within the family. Present, intelligently, the incontestable points to them why only Islām is the true way to salvation. If you do all these, you would have been treading the path of Ibraheem and making required sacrifices.