Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, describing the Hajj of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “Then he started to say the words of Tawheed,
‘Labbayk Allahumma labbayk, labbayka laa shareeka laka labbayk. Inna al-hamd wa’l-ni’mata laka wa’l-mulk, laa shareeka lak
(Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. Verily all praise and blessings are Yours, and all sovereignty, You have no partner).’”
[Muslim]
Dear Sisters in Islam,
Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu!
Allah says in the fifth chapter of Quran in verse one, “Oh Believers honor your obligations….” This is part of the many verses of Quran relating the beautiful days of Dhul Hajj. Surely none honored their obligations more than the Khalil of Allah, the Prophet Ibraheem (as). The high status that was given to this friend of Allah was because his obedience and sacrifice was absolute to the One God even before his official status of prophethood.
There is so much we can relate to with this Haneef (the one who walks on a straight line). We can all revisit our commitments to Allah and the work we do for His pleasure. We can realign our priorities and put our goals back into focus. Prophet Ibraheem’s sacrifices and the willingness of his entire family to sacrifice for the sake of Allah teach us what is required of us to seek Allah’s pleasure through implementing the Deen in our lives. Prophet Ibraheem’s legacy was to build the Kaaba so that people around the world could come in a collective way to do this great ibadah. Meaning, what was a local dawah to mankind before this event, became global after his work. The torch of Tawheed which was passed on from one prophet to another now was lit in that sacred land for the whole of humanity.
To the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) Allah says in the Quran,
اليَومَ أَكمَلتُ لَكُم دينَكُم وَأَتمَمتُ عَلَيكُم نِعمَتي وَرَضيتُ لَكُمُ الإِسلامَ دينًا
“Today I have perfected your deen for you, and I have completed My blessing upon you, and I have approved Islam as your way of life” (5:3).
The message or global dawah call which started with Prophet Ibraheem to humanity was perfected by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and given to us as his sunnah to follow.
Dear sisters, let us, along with our families, honor these sacrifices and remember the struggles of Prophet Ibrahim (as) by obeying Allah and calling others to Him. Let us sacrifice our time and use our abilities and spend our money for His pleasure and help humanity as it has been obligated on the believers. Let’s remember to include the weak ones, the oppressed ones, the lonely ones from your community in your Eid celebrations. On behalf of ICNA Sisters I wish you all a happy and joyful Eid-al-Adha, insha Allah ameen.
Eid Mubarak!
Wa Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu.
Abeer Sher- President ICNA Sisters.
