Do You Celebrate The Festival Of The Sacrifice Or Eid Al-Adha Today?

 

Now I fully comprehend the concept of sacrifice and what the Festival of the Sacrifice or Eid al-Adha means. It simply means saying “alhamdulillah” not only when good things happen but when bad things happen as well.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Yes, today is the Festival of the Sacrifice or Eid al-Adha.

Some celebrate today by sending “Selamat Hari Raya” electronic messages to friends and relatives (maybe some still do it the old-fashioned way of posting greeting cards).

Some go back to the hometown to be with their family and old folks.

Some pig themselves out in eating and drinking orgies.

As for me, I do none of the above. Instead, I just do nothing and observe the true spirit of sacrifice. And sacrifice means denying yourself everything.

I do not swear and curse and blame Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative party government (even though I support the Liberal Democratic Party) because the Covid-19 problem in Britain is many more times worse than in Malaysia.

Yesterday, the government declared “Freedom Day” and experts have warned that the 50,000 a day Covid-19 cases might shoot up to 100,000 or 200,000 because of this. And that is even more reason to face my sacrifice by staying home and by denying myself the pleasure of “Freedom Day”.

I stay home and do not go out and organise “Kerajaan Gagal” protests and demonstrations, because even though I feel “Freedom Day” may be the wrong move, or it is not the right time yet, the majority of the 66 million British citizens want it. So, I need to respect the wishes of the majority, even though this may sound strange for most Malaysians.

Yes, sacrifice is a most difficult thing to achieve in Islam. Humans are guided, controlled and dominated by greed, lust, ego, pride, anger, ambition, envy, etc. Hence sacrifice is almost impossible when all these other emotions dictate what you do.

One very valuable lesson my Tok Guru taught me was how to say “alhamdulillah” not only when good things happen but when bad things happen as well. Say “alhamdulillah” not only when good things happen but when bad things happen as well? That sounded weird.

Then my Tok Guru explained why we must say “alhamdulillah” not only when good things happen but when bad things happen as well by giving me many examples and analogies.

Then I read a book on Buddhism about one bad brick in a wall of 1,000 bricks. This tied into the half-a-glass of water is half full, not half empty doctrine.

Now I fully comprehend the concept of sacrifice and what the Festival of the Sacrifice or Eid al-Adha means. It simply means saying “alhamdulillah” not only when good things happen but when bad things happen as well.

Happy Eid al-Adha or Selamat Hari Raya to everyone, Muslim or otherwise.