the meaning of Aidiladha

1 cow down

on 10th of Zulhijjah month of Islamic calendar, Muslims all over the world celebrate Aidiladha, which is one of the biggest and important events in the annual Muslim calender...similarly on the same day, the pilgrims in the holy city of Mecca are performing the fifth pillar of Islam, the Haj..

during Aidiladha, a ritual known as qurban or sacrifice is carried out after the Aidiladha prayer... animals such as cows, goats and camels that meet certain religious criteria are sacrificed as a symbolic gesture to remember the sacrifice that was instructed upon Prophet Ibrahim a.s...this act of sacrifice is an attribute of the spirit embodied in Islam... Islam encourages its believers to be everwilling to sacrifice in the name of God....While the sacrifice on Aidiladha is specific in nature, sacrifice can come in many forms...

imtiaz makes new friends

it should be realised that sacrifice should not be limited to the day of Aidiladha...instead sacrifice should be part and parcel of a Muslim's character which is practised every day of his life....this form of sacrifice can be tangible or intangible, be they in the form of material, financial, time and/or energy...

besides a whole array of delicacies on the table, we should inculcate the meaning of Qurban in our children...even though they are too small to understand the true meaning of it, it is a good exposure for them to see what is really happening on the day....

my two beautiful kids

as Jihan becomes mature each day, she understands that Muslims go to the holy Mecca to perform Haj..her school principal also went to perform Haj this year, so that put more sense into her...when she saw the photos of Kaabah and Muslims performing the Haj in the TV,  she would say that she one day too would want to go to Mecca...and we always tell her before going to Mecca, she must perform 5 times prayers a day, be a good Muslimah and to start saving money from now on...

and yesterday, dear hubby brought the two kids to see our Jamaah slaughtering cows at the surau...Imtiaz was so excited seeing the cows and Jihan too, being scared at first, later enjoyed herself..it was such an experience for her and i was very proud of her courage..

the kids are so amazed

later in the evening, i read her a story regarding Prophet Ibrahim a.s and his son, Prophet Ismail a.s, how Prophet Ibrahim was commanded to offer his son Ismail up for sacrifice, and though it grieved him greatly, he made ready to perform the task.. however, as he was about to strike his son, God stopped him and revealed that it was a trial... Ismail's life was spared, and a ram was sacrificed in his place...

Jihan was so amazed listening to the story and that taught her to be brave like Prophet Ismail a.s and obey all Allah's commands and also to listen well to the elderly...

insya Allah, as they mature each day, i believe Jihan and Imtiaz will understand more the  wide meaning of sacrifice...