Have I been bitten by the writing bug? 3 blogs in a week.. after passive lapses of months..
But anyways, here it is..
It is Eid-al-Adha or the festival of sacrifice today and its 9:28am in the morning.. After an unusual bath in the early morning and after taking part in the congregation at the Chandrashekhar Nair Stadium in trivandrum at 7:40 am, I am teeming with energy and good spirit. This is a bi-annual experience for most muslims. Standing together, shoulder-to-shoulder without leaving gaps between people, gathered under a misty sky, in the cool morning.. proclaiming the greatness of God in unison, and bowing down in sujood (which is an ideal form of sashtangapranaamam - bcoz only ur forehead, the tip of ur nose, the 2 palms, the knees(2), and the feet(2) touch the ground.. when u count, it adds upto 8), it gave me an indescribable feeling of brotherhood... both of faith, and of common humanity. The Imaam of the Palayam Jamaaet mosque made a speech in which he mentioned the spirit of Abraham or Ibrahim(peace be upon him or pbuh), and the message of Mohammad(pbuh).. who taught us that : "Indeed there is no excellence for an Arab over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab, nor a White person over a Black one, nor a Black person over a White one, except through piety". I had always known, understood and believed firmly in equality.. and I owe this to my faith. I live in a world of double-standards, where the world celebrates the coming to power of a man of African origin, in the supposedly most civilised nation of the world, in this 21st century. I had known the history of a freed black slave Bilaal, who was the first muezzin in Islam.., the first man who sounded the call for Azaan, inviting people to prayer.. - a coveted honour for which all the companions of the Prophet vied. The Prophet himself bent down, and this black man, this great companion of the Prophet, stepped on his shoulder to climb onto the top of the Kaeba mosque, to give the first Azaan to prayer in his beautiful voice. This happened more than 1400 yrs back.. in a land which was originally full of savage immorality, drunken revelry, tribal wars, oppression and full-fledged slavery ..
Even in India, as in different parts of the world, we have different castes... we have different means of seggregating and dividing people.. means to label one superior and another inferior by birth.. and not by qualities or values.One of our family friends who is also a Muslim, narrated an incident in which he had to visit some place in tamil nadu,and had to stay at the house of a former collague of his who belongs to the so-called upper-caste.. He was told politely, that he had to wash the plate and glass from which he ate and drank.. It is another thing that when this colleague paid a visit to this uncle's house, he treated him with the same hospitality that he extends to every friend and acquaintance. In India, we have caste system and regionalism.. Somewhere in our hearts, we carry this pitiable untouchability.. Every man tries to carry within himself, some reason or means of conviction of his own superiority over the others, sometimes, its caste, sometimes its regionalism... The reason why we are a highly divided community, is because we lack the basic idea of fraternity.. of unity, of being one even when diverse.. It is this polarization that the terrorists attacking India, intend to mobilize and solidify..inorder to throw the nation into chaos and anarchy. This is also why, we as a nation, are so susceptible to dirty politics of division on the lines of religion, caste, regions..South Indians, North Indians, Tamilians, Maharashtrians,UPians, Biharis, Bengalis, Keralaits.. we all try to prove that we are better than the rest so often... its almost an unconscious trait.. Every region, every language, every religion.. has its history, has its ethnicity, has its message, its flavour to add... This rich diversity is what makes India, India..
The 49th chapter of Quran says "O mankind! We have created you from single male and female and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another. Surely, the best of you in the sight of Allah (God) is the most righteous (God fearing) of you."
Therefore, my faith had always solidified my belief in true and not bogus fraternity and equality.Coz, we are the same God's creations, created in the same way, and the lineage of every single individual reaches back to Adam and Eve(peace be upon them).. Eid-al-Adha commences after the Hajj pilgirmage. If u have ever watched the gathering at Mecca, u will see that europeans, africans, asians people from different races, nations, continents gather together, and offer their prayers standing shoulder-to-shoulder.There is absolutely no difference whether u r rich, what race u belong to, or the color of ur skin. When they bow down in sujood before God, the face of one man would be close to the feet of the man bowing in front of him.. Its a lesson in humility also.., a lesson of loosing oneself in a mass of humanity.. This idea of fraternity, and equality is one of the several important messages of Islam as well as Eid-al-Adha.
The spirit of Eid-Al-Adha is the spirit of sacrifice. The history of a legendary heroic family.. and the history of Abraham or Ibrahim(pbuh), one of my most favorite Prophets, and also a Prophet accepted equally by the Jews, Christians and Muslims.. Ibrahim was a Prophet and he had been tested by God several times, and each time Ibrahim(pbuh) did the right thing and took the difficult decisions and obeyed God. One of the tests he had to face, was the test of sacrifice. Ibrahim had no children in his youth; he was blessed with one in his old age.. A parent would love his child dearly.. words are insufficient to describe what a child would mean to its parent. But imagine, growing old and having no expectations of a child, and then one day, u r blessed with one.. In such a situation, you would love it and value it even more..
It is God's way to test man in different ways.. One example is the test of the Sabbath day.God declared to the Jews that no work should be done on Sabbath day of the week, and that the people should spend the day in prayers, remembering Him.. The people there lived near the sea and were fishermen. God tested them by reducing the catch on the weekdays, and on Sabbath day, he made the sea waves glisten with the scales of the fish.. such was the abundance of fish on the seas in that day.. This phenomenon repeated several times.. Thus, a section of the community were tempted by this and built some construction to trap the fish coming in with the waves on the Sabbath day.. and thus disobeyed God, and they were duly punished (This part is narrated in the Chapter 2 of Quran).. It has always been God's way to test man, and prove as to who is faithful and who isnt.. And it has also been God's way to test the more faithful of His subjects with stronger and severe tests to prove the extent of the faith of His believers..
Ibrahim(pbuh) was a strong devoted man.. hence, his tests were also strong.. In a dream, God commanded him to sacrifice his dear son Ismael.(This was the dream coming to a Prophet and not an ordinary man). Accordingly, he tells his believer wife about this, and takes his son along and tells him on the way, about the sacrifice. Quran tells how the son responded, in patience and in faith.. he said that God's will should be done and that he will patiently endure this and asked his father to proceed. Ibrahim(pbuh) ties his son down and sacrifices him.. And then, God returns the boy to him intact, and tells him to sacrifice a lamb instead.. God tells in Quran, that it is neither the blood nor the flesh of the lamb that reaches God.. but the heart-felt willingness to sacrifice and obey God at all costs.. This event is the history of 3 believers.. father, mother and son.. all three of whom, willed to obey God even at personal loss.. Even during a difficult time, they remained united and subservient to God.
Sacrificing self-interest for the sake of God needs 2 pre-requisites..
1. Complete faith in God.. This means, not just a belief that God exists... It means belief in His qualities.. I know I cannot sacrifice for a God who is whimsical, who exploits His creations.. or who tortures man for His entertainment. But I know that God isnt whimsical..,He never exploits man, or delights in the suffering of man. When He demands from us, a difficult decision, He does so for good and good only. He is Merciful and Considerate. Even then, if He tests me, it is to increase my strength.., it is to make me know my own strengths better, and to know Him better.. I know God has good reasons to test me, or to exact from me a difficult task. I believe Him eyes closed.. and I know, that this would only make me a better individual.
2. Willingness to do good.. to obey. Submission. It is not enough to believe in God.. There must also be a willingness to be led by Him. To do that which is right by Him.. to abstain from wrong.. It is not my convenience or conventions that should dictate to me my rights and wrongs.. Because, very often, there is only a thin line that separates right and wrong and my judgments may not always be right.. But God, is never wrong. Emotions change.., today I feel one thing.. tomorrow another. Hence, I cannot depend on my emotions to guide me always. Worldly morals fluctuate heavily.. Yesterday homo-sexuality was'nt allowed, today it is.. Today child pornography isnt officially allowed.. Who knows how much more accomodating worldly morals will be tomorrow? No, I cannot be guided by worldly morals..because worldly morals are dictated by the convenience of the masses.. And as right is difficult, and wrong easy and as the masses usually traverse the easy path.., more often than not, worldly morals are weak. I choose to be led by God. He never varies.. His right and wrong are fixed, and always dependable. If an average man chooses to do right, and abstain from wrong at all costs, the world would have been so much more of a better place.
One simple example of such a sacrifice is the idea of charity and distribution of wealth among the masses.. On one side, we have rich countries whose people discard tonnes of processed and otherwise food stuff down the trash.. and on the other side, we have larger nations surviving on scraps..
The message of sacrifice, where we learn to think beyond our own existence, combined with the message of fraternity and equality (the ability to see our equal in an impoverished and a deprived human being) is the solution for humanity. This is the message of Eid-Al-Adha.
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