Khutba on Sacrifice
الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي أمر عباده بذبح ما يعزون وإنفاق ما يحبون و، وجعل ذلك سر القبول يوم لا ينفع مال ولا بنون، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير، ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر
Today is the Eid al-Adha, the day of sacrifice, the greatest day in the entire year, for the Prophet said,
إن أعظم الأيام عند الله يوم النحر
“The greatest of days with Allah is the Day of Sacrifice.” And the reason it is so great is due to the great event that this day commemorates. This event is described in Surat Saaffaat. Allah says,
وَقَالَ إِنِّي ذَاهِبٌ إِلَى رَبِّي سَيَهْدِينِ رَبِّ هَبْ لِي مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ فَبَشَّرْنَاهُ بِغُلامٍ حَلِيمٍ
فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَى فِي الْمَنَامِ أَنِّي أَذْبَحُكَ فَانظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَى قَالَ يَا أَبَتِ افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ سَتَجِدُنِي إِن شَاءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ وَنَادَيْنَاهُ أَنْ يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ قَدْ صَدَّقْتَ الرُّؤْيَا إِنَّا كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ إِنَّ هَذَا لَهُوَ الْبَلاء الْمُبِينُ وَفَدَيْنَاهُ بِذِبْحٍ عَظِيمٍ
the translation of which is, “He said, ‘I am going towards my Lord; He will be my guide. My Lord, bestow on me a right-acting child!’ And We gave him the good news of a forbearing boy. When he was of an age to work with him, he said, ‘My son, I saw in a dream that I must sacrifice you. What do you think about this?’ He said, ‘Do as you are ordered, father. Allah willing, you will find me resolute.’ Then when they had both submitted and he had lain him face down on the ground, We called out to him, ‘Ibrahim! you have discharged your vision.’ That is how We recompense good-doers. This was indeed a most manifest trial.” We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice.”
falamma aslama – When they had submitted, when they were Muslim. As is clear from these ayats, part of Islam, part of submission, is sacrifice, and not just token sacrifice, but sacrifice of the things you love the most, the things most dear to you. And the thing that was most dear to Ibrahim was his son, whom he had been asking his Lord for for years. But he knew that everything he had ultimately belonged to his Lord and none of it was his to decide what to do with, including his family. And whatever his Lord commanded with respect to them was the path in which all good lay, for Allah only wants the best for His slaves. He knew that they could not benefit him unless he loved them solely for the sake of Allah. Hence, he said as part of his famous dua in surat ash-Shu’ara,
يَوْمَ لا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلا بَنُونَ إِلاَّ مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ
the translation of which is, “the Day when neither wealth nor sons will be of any use – except to those who come to Allah with sound and flawless hearts.’ A sound and flawless heart, one which derives benefit from the things we love in this world, is one which is submitted totally to Allah, and which is prepared to give up those things when commanded to do so, when doing so will restore Allah’s deen and re-establish the Prophet’s Sunna. When doing so will bring goodness and justice to the world. Allah says,
لَن تَنَالُواْ الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنفِقُواْ مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِن شَيْءٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ بِهِ عَلِيمٌ
the translation of which is, “You will not attain true goodness until you give of what you love. Whatever you give away, Allah knows it.” For when we submit to Allah’s will, and do as He commands, as is clear from the story of Ibrahim and his son, the outcome is always good, birr always ensues, both in this world and the Next. The life of his son was spared and a great ram was sent down in his place, and his progeny were blessed by Allah and given kingship and prophethood, with the greatest of all of mankind, the Messenger of Allah, the greatest blessing and most manifest mercy, coming from his bloodline. Allah says,
مَّن كَانَ يُرِيدُ ثَوَابَ الدُّنْيَا فَعِندَ اللَّهِ ثَوَابُ الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًا
the translation of which is, “If anyone wants the reward of the dunya, the reward of both dunya and akhira is with Allah. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.”
أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرَّحيم.
الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته.
The success that Ibrahim enjoyed in this world and the Next came about as a result of him turning fully to Allah and being prepared to give up all that he loved most in this world at a Command from his Lord. That is what it means to be Muslim. And it is the pact, the bargain, that each of makes when he says the shahadatayn. Allah says,
إِنَّ اللَّهَ اشْتَرَى مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَأَمْوَالَهُم بِأَنَّ لَهُمُ الْجَنَّةَ
the translation of which is, “Allah has bought from the believers their selves and their wealth in return for the Garden.” They and everything else of this world we cherish have been traded with Allah in exchange for the Garden. They are His, not ours, and so must be freely given over to Him when he requires it. What does He require of us? Allah says,
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالإِنسَ إِلاَّ لِيَعْبُدُونِ
the translation of which is, “I have not created jinn and man except to worship Me.” He requires us to worship Him, to be His slaves who do all He commands and avoid all He prohibits. To put into practice the example of the noble Messenger whom he sent to us as a model and guide. That is the primary purpose we are here – that is our primary task in life and that is why we have been provided with such clear guidance in all aspects and avenues of our existence. The deen is not narrow and constricting, but rather within its confines we can function to our fullest potential. We do not have to become bi-compartmentalised human beings, separating our dunya from our akhira, separating life from religion, our ibadaat from our muaamalat. For that is the modern, secular, progressive viewpoint – that our day-to-day affairs – our work and our family interactions – are outside the remit of religion, and religion (whatever its flavour: Christinity, Buddhism, Islam) is some optional extra that we can append to our lives and make our lives that little bit better and more complete. If that is what religion is, then we do not have religion – we have deen, the life-transaction, the bargain we have made with our Lord. Dunya and akhira hand-in-hand, part of one dynamic whole. For us, there is no distinction between our trade and our prayer apart from one of degree. Each is as much an act of worship, a means of obeying our Lord and drawing closer to Him as the other: ibada and muamala – all of it deen and sunna. All that is required is ikhlas – purity and unity of intention, making sure that whatever we do, we do for the sake of Allah, and the sake of Allah alone. This does not mean forgoing work and family and living a monastic lifestyle, dedicating all our time to worship and prayer. But it does mean making those things a means to an end rather than the end themselves. It does mean fitting them in to our lives as worshipping human beings, rather than fitting our lives as worshipping human beings around them. It does mean holding firm to the sunna of the Messenger of Allah and bringing back to life the fiqh rulings that were put into place to govern transactions and keep them pleasing to Allah. That was the Islam of our forefather Ibrahim and his children, the Islam of our noble Prophet, and must be the Islam of all who call themselves Muslim. We ask Allah to give to give a true, sincere and absolute submission to our Lord. And make us among those who give Him what they love the most and make the profoundest of sacrifices, trusting in Him to give us the best of outcomes. We ask Him to strengthen our intention and give us a pure ikhlas, bringing us closer to Him through everything that we do. And bring the sunna of His noble Messenger back to life through our efforts. We ask that He give victory to His deen.
إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يَا أَيُهَا الذِينَ آمَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيماً. اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ. وَارْضَ اللَّهُمَّ عَنِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيٍّ، وعن خديجة وعائشة وسائر أزواج النبي، وَعَنْ سَائِرِ الصَّحَابَةِ أَجْمَعِينَ، خُصُوصاً اِلأَنْصَارَ مِنْهُمْ وَالمُهَاجِرِينَ، وَعَنِ التَّابِعِينَ وَتَابِعِي التَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.
اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ وُلَاةَ أُمُورِ المُسْلِمِينَ لِمَا يُرْضِيكَ وَلِاتِّبَاعِ سُنَّةِ نَبِيِّكَ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَهُمْ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ المُسْتَقِيمِ، وَأَصْلِحْهُمْ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ.
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى شَيْخِنَا، وَعَلَى أَمِيرِنَا، وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ أُمَرَاءِ وَزُعَمَاءِ المُسْلِمِينَ.
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى المُسْلِمِينَ فِي هَذِهِ المَدِينَةِ، وَوَفِّقْهُمْ لِمَا تُحِبُّهُ وَتَرْضَاهُ يَا أَكْرَمَ الأَكْرَمِينَ.
اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلَامَ وَالمُسِْلمِينَ (3) وَاخْذُلِ الْكُفْرَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ، وَانْصُرِ المُجَاهِدِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ. وَاجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وَكَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلَى.
رَبَّنَا ءَاتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقَِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ.
إِنَّ اللهَ يَامُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَّكَّرُونَ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. وَقُومُواْ إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يَرْحَمُكُمُ اللهُ.