Islam: the Way of Perfection
Eid Mubarak to you all. May Allah bless you and your families on this day and may He give you many blessed Eids in your life. May Allah grant the Muslim Ummah here and in every part of the world peace, prosperity and happiness. Ameen.
We are gathered here today to give thank to Allah on this blessed day of Eidul Adha. This is not just a holiday or a festival day. It is also a most solemn and a most spiritual day for us.
- It is the day of sacrifice:
This is the Day when our great Prophet Ibrahim -may Allah be pleased with him- performed a great act of sacrifice. He was willing to sacrifice his only son, Ismail, for the sake of Allah. He saw in his dream that Allah was commanding him to sacrifice his beloved son. Prophet Ibrahim accepted this command without any hesitation. His son Ismail like his father was also obedient to Allah. When his father asked him about his opinion, the son did not hesitate a minute, he too accepted the command of Allah. Allah honored their intention and their submission. He blessed both of them and He made this day a great day of remembrance for Ibrahim and his son Ismail - may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon both of them and upon all His Prophets and Messengers. Allah mentioned this event in the Qur’an in Surah al-Saffat:
Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said:
“O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: now see what is thy view!” (the son) said: “O my father! do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if Allah so wills, one practicing Patience and Constancy!” 103-So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice), 104-We called out to him, “O Abraham! 105-”Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!” thus indeed do We reward those who do right.106-For this was obviously a trial, 107-And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice: 108-And We left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times: 109-”Peace and salutation to Abraham!” 110-Thus indeed do We reward those who do right111-For he was one of Our believing Servants. (al-Saffat 37:102-111)
- It is a special day of blessings for the Muslim Ummah: When Prophet Muhammad -peace be upon him- performed his last pilgrimage he had a large number of his followers with him. He showed them how to perform Hajj and explained to them every thing about Islam. Then he came to ‘Arafah and he wished to give them his message of Hajj, at that moment Allah revealed to him:
“This day those who disbelieve despair about your religion: so dread them not but rather dread Me. This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor towards you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.”(Al-Ma’idah 5:3)
It is mentioned in al-Bukhari and Muslim:
“It is reported by the second Caliph ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab -may Allah be pleased with him- that a man from the Jewish community said to him, ‘O Leader of the Faithful, there is a verse in your Book that you read, had it been revealed to us we would have made that Day a Day of Eid.’ He asked him what verse is it? He said, ‘Today I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor towards you and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.’ ‘Umar said, ‘We surely know the day and the place where this verse was revealed to the Prophet -peace be upon him. He was standing in ‘Arafah on a Friday.’ “(Al-Bukhari, Hadith no. 43)
So this day comes immediately after the Day of ‘Arafah, and it is a day of Eid and a day of Happiness. Allah has blessed us with a perfect religion and has fulfilled His favors upon us. We thank Allah for the gift of His message, for a complete and perfect way of life.
- It is a day that comes after the Day of ‘Arafah. Yesterday more than two million Muslims from all over the world were gathered in the valley of Arafah. They participated in the annual Hajj, the largest international religious gathering in the world. This is the only gathering that began thousands of years ago and has continued uninterrupted every year. Millions of people go there to visit the Ka’bah, to participate in the most sacred ceremonies and to meet Muslims from all over the world.
We pray that those among us who have not been there, may Allah give them a chance in their lives to perform Hajj and visit these sacred places. As they must be praying for us and for the whole Ummah, we also pray for them. This is the way of Islam. We pray for each other and we support each other in the deeds of righteousness and piety.
What does all this mean for us today? Beside celebrations, let us think for a moment what is the significance of all these three factors that make this day important. What lessons can we take for our life today?
- Sacrifice: The Path of Love for the Old and Young: In the story of Ibrahim and Ismail (peace be upon them) we have the lesson of true faith. Faith (Iman) is not just a verbal declaration, it means deep love and commitment to Allah. Faith is submission to Allah’s command. It is obedience to Allah. It means willingness to sacrifice anything and every thing for the sake of Allah.
In the heart of a Believer the love of Allah must be more than any love. Prophet Ibrahim is called Khalil Allah, the Friend of Allah or the Beloved of Allah. He loved Allah and Allah loved him. Prophet Muhammad -peace be upon him- is called Habib Allah. His life was also devoted to Allah. No one loved Allah more than the Messenger of Allah did.
We have to ask ourselves how true is our faith. How much do we love Allah? How much are we willing to sacrifice for the higher principles of our faith? Are we really serious about Islam or do we follow it just as a tradition, as a custom or a culture? When we are faced with challenges, do we stick with our faith or do we compromise and give up our principles for some little worldly gains? Who is more beloved to us? Allah, His Messenger and His religion or our own selves, this world and the worldly pleasures and comforts? Are we the children of Ibrahim or have we become the children of Namrood? Prophet Ibrahim was a man of God, while Namrood was self-conceited man.
In the story of Ibrahim and Ismail (peace be upon them) we also an important lesson for our youth. The young Ismail was as much willing for sacrifice as his father was. There was no generation gap. There was no miscommunication.
They understood each other very well. The old father and the young son were together for the cause of faith. This day is as much dedicated to Ismail as it is dedicated to Ibrahim. The young and old have to work together. Our youth have to carry on the task of faith. We need them and they need us. The older generation must pay attention to the education and training of their youth, but the youth also must cooperate with their pious and righteous elders.
- The Perfection of Religion and the Perfection of Religious People: We are very happy and pleased that Allah gave us a perfect religion (al-Din al-Kamil). We are proud and honored to have this Ayah (al-Ma’idah 5:3) revealed for us. It is indeed the Day of Eid for us. But we have to ask ourselves why did Allah give us a perfect religion and a perfect way of life? Should we not be perfect as our religion is perfect? Today whenever we have any religious discussion we say how great is Islam and how great are its teachings, but we cannot show a similarly great and brilliant picture of Muslims. Our religion is Kamil but we are Naqis. How can a Kamil religion have Naqis followers? The answer is simple. The followers are not true followers. They only pay lip service to Islam. They do not take it seriously.
Alhamdulillah, the situation is changing. There is an awakening in this Ummah. People are coming back to faith and inshallah this Ummah will regain its position. The Ummah will come back to Allah. There is a lot of good in this Ummah and it can play a very important role in this world. Our awakening and our revival must be on the true foundation of our faith. We should be open-minded. Our religion encourages us to learn, to be organized, to be modest, to be good, kind, compassionate and thoughtful. Let us pay attention to the moral values of Islam.
- The Principle of Tawhid is also the Principle of Wahdah: Hajj is the unique expression of Tawhid. Every pilgrim recites Talbiyah and says again and again:
“At Your command O Allah, I am at Your command. At Your command, there is no partner with You, I am at Your command. Indeed the praise, the favor and the kingdom belong to You (O Allah), there is no partner with You.”
This is the expression of pure monotheism. Islam affirms that there is no god but One God. Islam also affirms that all human beings are created by God and they are equal in the sight of God. God is One so the followers of God must be one people. Hajj affirms this oneness. Muslims from all over the world come there and spend few days together. Hajj is a symbol of Islamic universalism. We must take the spirit of Hajj seriously and apply it to our every day life. We must strive to bring Muslims together. We must work for the Muslim unity at every level. There should not be any nationalism, regionalism, and ethno-centrism, color prejudice, language prejudice and racial prejudice among Muslims. Muslim Ummah must be united, no divisions, no wars, no battles and no borders either. We must all work for the one Unified Ummah under the banner of Tawhid.
Let us begin from here: Let us begin with ourselves. We must strengthen our faith, our commitment to Allah. We must be good to our families. Spouses should pledge to treat each other with respect and kindness. Parents and children must care for each other. Let us strengthen our community in Orange County. Let us build our institutions and make them the best, our Masajid, our Schools our community centers. Let us work with our communities in Southern California. Let us work with our national organizations. Let us care for our neighbors, Muslims as well as non-Muslims. Let us have good relations with the people of other faiths. With dialogue, with interfaith relations, with kindness and generosity we should try to win the hearts of all people. Islam is the way of love: love of God and love of humanity.
Let us pray to Allah to bless us with faith and righteousness. Wassalam ‘alaikum wa rahmatullah.