Eid ul-Adha

Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem

Allahumma salli ala sayidina Muhammad

All praise be to Allah we have much to thank him for. Unlike occasions where happiness stems from passing material matters, the joy we feel in Eid comes from accomplishment. As an Ummah we feel the accomplishment of the Muslims in haj and our hearts and thoughts are with them; and as individuals we were using these special ten days to get closer to Allah in many different ways and we especially put an effort in the day of Arafa to fast and do tasbeeh and dua and then the Eid comes and we feel the happiness of having tried to please Allah. Added to that come all the other joy causers from nice clothes, to good food to the meeting of friends and relatives to the togetherness of Eid.

Something special about this Eid is the repetition of “AllahuAkbar”. Throughout the four days we are doing takbeer after each prayer. As the pilgrims in haj stone the devil they say,  ” AllahuAkbar” and when they go around the Kaba, they start each round with, “bismillah, AllahuAkbar”. AllahuAkbar is a Muslim’s reminder that Allah is greater – greater than one’s sin therefore he believes in his ability to repent and do istighfar, and he believes in Allah’s ability to forgive all sin. Greater than the devil, therefore a Muslim believes in his power to resist the devil and his whispered suggestions and that unlike the what some people mistakenly believe: good and bad are not equally pitted against each other. Good comes from Allah, the devil is but a petty creature with permission to try us. God is greater;  and the devil, unless we allow him to take over our lives, doesn’t have a chance. Allah is greater than this dunia with all its beauty and tempting pleasures, therefore a Muslim never feels deprived because what Allah has prepared for us is more beautiful and pleasurable, and because he is confident that Allah only tells us to avoid what is ultimately harmful to us. AllahuAkbar is our “wird”(our repeated tasbeeh) to help us keep the Akhira ever-present in our minds and to help us prioritize correctly.

Prophet Muhammad says that these days of Eid are days of eating, drinking and thikr of Allah. May you all have the chance to take some time off to delight in remembrance of Allah. As you do your wird or thikr, think of how good Allah is to us and how undeserving we are. How much He loves us and how self-centered we are; how great and wonderful He is and how insignificant we all are. May our Eid be the continuous celebration of Allah’s attributes and names in our hearts…ameen.