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Khutba  #13

Eid al-Adha

May I ask you to hold to Taq’wa (which means piety and righteousness) and to view Allah with reverence, and obey His Divine Commands!  Let us choose wisely in this life and heed the consequences of our choices for the hereafter.  Let us be aware of our eventuality and departure into the everlasting life.

 The Holy Quran says in Surah 2 (al-Baqarah), Ayah 127-128:

“And remember when Ibrahim and Ismail raised the foundation of the house: [praying]

Our Lord! Accept this service from us: Verily, thou art All‑hearing, All-knowing.”

“Our lord! Make us both submissive to Thee [Muslims] and raise from our progeny a nation submitting to Thee, and show us the ways of devotion, and turn to us with mercy. 

Verily, Thou art the oft-turning to mercy, the Merciful”

From this verse we understand several things including the importance of Eid al-Adha.  In this verse Allah Almighty designated Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ismail as the planners, designers and builders to construct the Ka’ba.  After having passed rigorous tests successfully, Prophet Ibrahim got the mission to start the Ka'ba construction.  We know that Allah (most high) had commanded Prophet Ibrahim [after having married Hajar] to take Hajar and baby Ismail to the land of Hijaz (in Saudi Arabia nowadays).  Without questioning and in total obedience, Prophet Ibrahim took his wife Hajar and son Ismail from Palestine heading south.  He saw nothing but barren land and desolate desert.   After good many weeks of arduous travel he arrived to the inhospitable and unproductive land, called Hijaz.

The land was a parched dry valley, ominous looking, with no trees or water.  It was rocky and full of sand, but surrounded by treeless foreboding mountains.  Prophet Ibrahim stopped at this site called Mecca.  After staying for sometime Prophet Ibrahim left behind both Hajar and Ismail to return to Palestine, all this was in obedience to the Commands of God Almighty.  No matter the feelings he had, Ibrahim saw off his wife and kissed his baby Ismail and left.  Hajar asked her husband apprehensively: “Why do you leave us in such wild place?”  Prophet Ibrahim answered with heart-felt sadness “Allah has ordered me to do so”.  Hajar, who believed in Allah and the message of her husband, answered with confidence “As Allah has ordered you to do this, Allah will not forget us”.  Hajar and baby Ismail were alone in this valley but with the company of scattered tents belonging to local tribes.  It was through the Will of Allah that many of His bounties were provided, (and that was what Prophet Ibrahim requested from Allah).

Prophet Ibrahim made several requests from Allah, as told in the Holy Quran, Surah 14 (Ibrahim), Ayah 37:

رَّبَّنَا إِنِّي أَسْكَنتُ مِن ذُرِّيَّتِي بِوَادٍ غَيْرِ ذِي زَرْعٍ عِندَ بَيْتِكَ الْمُحَرَّمِ

رَبَّنَا لِيُقِيمُواْ الصَّلاَةَ فَاجْعَلْ أَفْئِدَةً مِّنَ النَّاسِ تَهْوِي إِلَيْهِمْ

وَارْزُقْهُم مِّنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَشْكُرُونَ

“O Lord!  I have settled part of my offspring in a barren valley near Thy sacred site;

Our Lord! That they keep up prayer;

so make the hearts of some people yearn towards them, and bless them with crops;

haply they may give thanks.”

Having arrived in Palestine Ibrahim lived with his wife Sarah for many years but never forgot Hajar and Ismail.  After several years Ibrahim went back to Hijaz, to visit his wife Hajar and see his son Ismail.

Ibrahim saw that Ismail had grown to be a young man, healthy looking, that he had lived with the local Arab tribes.  In that place both Ibrahim and Ismail built the sacred house of Allah to be the mark of Allah’s Oneness in the world.  Thus, the Ka’ba was the first house of worship to be built for people according to Allah’s direct order.  In it there are clear signs such as the standing place of Ibrahim “Maqam Ibrahim”, and whoever enters it is safe.  As Prophet Ibrahim and Ismail finished building the house they prayed as Surah 2 (al-Baqarah), Ayah 127 tells us:

وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَاعِيلُ رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا

إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

“And remember when Ibrahim and Ismail raised the foundation of the house: [praying]

Our Lord! Accept this service from us:

Verily, thou art All- hearing, All- knowing.”

Allah, most high, chose a barren land to build His house.  He had special reasons of His own for that.  As the house was being built, Allah made the black stone “Hajar al-Aswad” available, to become the symbol of Allah’s Oneness ever since.

After the construction of the Holy Ka’ba, Prophet Ibrahim and his son, Ismail, preformed the Haj.  When Prophet Ibrahim was running between al-Safa and al-Marwa Elevations, he remembered the sufferings of his wife Hajar years before, who was running between these two elevations looking for water for her baby Ismail.  Ibrahim also remembered how, by Allah’s power, water gushed out miraculously from the ground, in what is called Well of ZamZam.

Besides, Ibrahim vividly remembered a dream he had before.  In the dream he saw himself slaying his own son Ismail, and offering him as a sacrifice to Allah (Glory be to Him).  By informing his son, he discovered that Ismail had no objections, for Ismail’s faith was unshakable too, so solid.

When Ibrahim and his son were ready to execute this order, Ibrahim heard a heavenly call as revealed in Surah 37 (al-Saffaat), Ayah 104-105.  The message said:

We called out: “O Ibrahim, verily you have made good your dream.”   Verily thus do We recompense those who do good.

In compliance, Ibrahim sacrificed the ram provided instead of his own son, and then he and Ismail completed the Haj.  Nowadays we follow the example of our father Ibrahim when we perform the Haj. It was our Prophet Ibrahim who taught us how to do these things.  He also taught us to believe in the Oneness of Allah.  Now Jews, Christians, and Muslims believe in the Oneness of God.  This is one of the favors of our Prophet Ibrahim.  Allah chose Prophet Ibrahim as a Prophet, a Messenger, and an Imam.  The Quran says in Surah 2 (al-Baqarah), Ayah 124:

وَإِذِ ابْتَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمَاتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ قَالَ إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا

قَالَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِي قَالَ لاَ يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ

And remember when the Lord tried Ibrahim with certain words, and he fulfilled them.   He said: “Verily, I make you an Imam (leader) for mankind.”  Ibrahim asked: “And of my off-spring too.”  He was answered: “My covenant will not include the unjust.”

Our Prophet Musa (Moses) was from the progeny of Prophet Ishaaq, son of Prophet Ibrahim.  Our Prophet Jesus, the Messiah son of Mary, was from the progeny of Prophet Ishaq, and our Prophet Muhammad was from the progeny of Ismail, son of Ibrahim.  The Imams from the members of the house (Ahlul Bayt) also belonged to the progeny of Prophet Ismail.

In Du’aa we say, “O’ Allah! Bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You have blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim; surely You are Most Praiseworthy, Most Glorious”.

For the end of the 1^st part of the Khutba, read Surah Al-Asr, take a short intermission, then start the 2^nd part of the Khutba with a short Du’aa.

Eid al-Adha is not for Muslims only, it actually belongs to all who follow the Truth, who want to strive for freedom from all worldly problems.  This Eid is a celebration of Prophet Ibrahim and his enormous endeavors for the sake of the Almighty.  He is the leader of mankind in many things, including his willingness to sacrifice his own son [Ismail] at Allah’s command, thus indirectly terminating human sacrifice that was prevalent beforehand.  The tenth of Dhul Hijjah is the first day of Eid al-Adha Al-Mubarak.

Muslims celebrate this auspicious occasion, the Eid, with prayers and exchange of gifts especially to children.  In Islam there are two major Eids, one is Eid al-Fitr, which is at the end of the month of Ramadhan, and the second is the Eid al-Adha, which is in the month of Dhul Hijjah. 

According to Islam, Haj is one of the oldest but pure religious rituals.  Prophet Ibrahim is the founder of the Ka’ba and the first person who preformed Haj, and like other Prophets introduced himself as a Muslim.  Haj is one of the obligatory religious pillars in Islam.  Every adult, man or woman, is to perform Haj once in a lifetime, if health permits and materially capable.  The Holy Quran says in Surah 3 (Aali Imran), Ayah 97 regarding Haj:

فِيهِ آيَاتٌ بَيِّـنَاتٌ مَّقَامُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمَن دَخَلَهُ كَانَ آمِنًا وَلِلّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلاً وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ الله غَنِيٌّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَ

“In it are clear signs; the place where Ibrahim stood up to pray;  and whoever enters it is safe; and pilgrimage to the house is incumbent upon mankind [purely] for Allah;  it is for those who can afford it.  And whoever disbelieves, then verily, Allah [the self-subsisting] is independent of the worlds.”

Haj is a great experience. Haj is a display of brotherhood, unity of the Ummah and equal rights of humans before the Creator.  There is no rank or privilege in this holy place because all of us are without rank before Allah.  Everyone is considered equal in his or her rights, regardless of whether it is a man or a woman, young or old, black or white, poor or rich.

No discrimination is made on the basis of race, sex, or social status and everyone is free to face Allah (swt) as such.  The only difference between one and another however, is based on the degree of Taq’wa practiced (piety) of the person in question, which is known only to our Creator.  Allah says in Surah 49 (al-Hujuraat), Ayah 13:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا

إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

“O’ mankind!  We have created you from a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may come to know one another.   Verily the most honored of you with Allah is the greatest of you in piety. God is all-knowing all-Aware.”

We pray Allah to help us obey Him and we pray for the acceptance of the Haj as preformed by Muslims, and for Allah to facilitate for all.   The Quran says in Surah 3 (Aali Imraan), Ayah 193:

رَّبَّنَا إِنَّنَا سَمِعْنَا مُنَادِيًا يُنَادِي لِلإِيمَانِ أَنْ آمِنُواْ بِرَبِّكُمْ فَآمَنَّا

رَبَّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَكَفِّرْ عَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا وَتَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الأبْرَارِ

“Our lord! We have heard the voice of the Messenger calling to faith saying: “Believe in your lord!”  So we believed.  Our lord!  Forgive us then our sins, and remove from us our evil deeds, and cause us to die with the virtuous.”

Imam Zainul Abideen has expressed his feelings toward the Almighty on the day before Haj (Arafat) by praising the Almighty, and we quote the first section of his Du’aa.  He says:[1] 

It is good to talk about the character of Imam Muhammad Al-Baaqir at this occasion.  He is the fifth of the twelve Imams.  He was born on the 1^st of Rajab, 57^th Hijrah, in Medina.  Because of his resemblance to his great grandfather (the Prophet (pbuh) he was named Muhammad, and because of that and his ability to deeply delve into knowledge and analyze it, and because he made manifest knowledge’s deep meanings (secrets), he became entitled as “Al-Baaqir”.  

Also al-Dhahabi says about him:[2] 

Imam Al-Baaqir had two distinct honors:  Imam Al-Sajjad was his father, and Fatima daughter of Al-Hasan was his mother.  He was the first Imam whose lineage ascended and reached the Prophet (pbuh) both from the father’s side and his mother’s side.

As to al-Baaqir’s manners and training, it is written that even when he laughed he laughed with dignity, and his speech was in a composed and respectable manner.  He kept from showing anger or rage, and when he met others he would show respect and shake hands and say, “Shaking hands brings the believer’s hearts together and puts an end to displeasure and discord”.

Sheikh Mufeed writes:

“Al-Baaqir had a unique capacity with knowledge in all its branches and remarkable intuition in learning.  He led a life busy in the service of God.  He was strong and balanced in piety, and he rigidly honored his word, be it promises or commitments.  His Taq’wa, piety, open-heartedness, spiritual purity, and conduct made people love him, and he trained them well in Islamic ethics.”  It is recorded that 300 scholars learned at his hands.

Finally, Imam Al-Baaqir died on the 7^th Dhul Hijjah 114 Hijrah at the age of 57 years, after years of laboring to serve the Islamic Ummah persistently.  He was buried by the grave of his father in the graveyard of Baqi’i' in Medina.

Oh Allah, we ask You to help us perform our duties and leave us not to ourselves, and make our Prophet and the Imams of his family pleased with us at all times.

Finally, let us read Surah Al-Nasr with a short Du’aa to close the Khutba.