Many people nowadays think Islam is a “barbaric” religion with “distasteful” morals and behaviors.  Yet we are not being asked to sacrifice virgins or become celibate for our lives and give up all our worldly possessions.  We don’t believe God needs blood for atonement or anything like that.  The least we are asked to do is merely symbolically replicate the sacrifice our pious forefathers did and make some small ones on our own until we reach a spiritual level to do even more.  We are not prophets and God did not demand that we make the level of sacrifices that they did.  Instead of sacrificing our sons we sacrifice an animal.  Instead of being in the desert with no water we go back and forth 7 times and cut our hair.  We drink from the miraculous well of Zam-Zam and pray in the House that Ibrahim built.  So if someone truly understands that this life is temporary, that all we have in this life is ourselves, and that sacrificing everything for an ideal you believe in, for the Creator of the Heavens and earth, your Lord and Mine, is in reality the greatest achievement one could accomplish, then this celebration of sacrifice would become a truly beautiful one indeed. 

Ibrahim ‘alaihis-salaam was called “Abul Anbiyaa`”, the “Father of the Prophets”.  The People of the Book (Jews and Christians) consider him a common spiritual ancestor.  From Ibrahim came 2 sons, Ishaaq and Isma’eel, the former being the predecessor of ‘Esa (Jesus) and the latter being the predecessor of Muhammad ‘alaihimus-salaam.  And Muslims in the daily prayers are required to remember this great Prophet when mentioning our own: O Allah send prayers over Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam and the family of Muhammad as you sent them over Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim, O Allah bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as you blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim.  But it is not only his preceding us in time that makes him great - it is more than just his championing of monotheism and the worship of Allah Alone, for all prophets and messengers did that.  It was his sacrifice.

The Hajj is required for every Muslim who is able to perform it once in a lifetime.  And interestingly enough we do not travel across the world to do the things our Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam did, but what Ibrahim ‘alaihis-salaam did.  The rituals of Hajj parallel the life of this great Prophet since upon further reflection you will realize that sacrificing oneself for Allah is the epitome of worship.

The first house ever to be built for the whole world dedicated to Allah was built by Ibrahim and his son Isma’eel ‘alaihimus-salaam.  Pilgrims from every nation on earth pay tribute to the Ka’bah, whose stones were placed by these 2 prophets, they pray 2 raka’aat by the Maqaam Ibrahim – Ibrahim’s footprint of where he would stand.  Allah says in the Quran “and take the standing place of Ibrahim as a place of prayer” (Suratul Baqarah).  It was Ibrahim and his son who prayed for the city of Makkah (called Bakkah before) to become a sanctuary and a provision for the believers.

Ibrahim was tested when he had to take his slave-woman Hajar and their son Isma’eel to the desert.  Not knowing how they would last in the desert he had to trust that Allah would take care of them.  Hajar understood that this was a test from Allah but of course she was also a mother who heard her baby crying for help.  She ran back and forth 7 times from the hills of Safa and Marwa to seek water for her baby.  When she came back she saw that he was furiously kicking the ground with his legs and Allah called forth the miraculous well of Zam-Zam (so named because it would not stop) to flow and give them drink.  The well still provides drink for the people who go for the pilgrimage to this day and one of the rituals of Hajj is to go back and forth 7 times over Safa and Marwa in commemoration of what this brave woman who trusted Allah did.

Ibrahim was also asked to make the ultimate sacrifice- to slaughter his own son.  Isma’eel, who was a righteous boy, instead of fleeing or refusing his father actually reassured his father and said that he should do it if that was what Allah asked.  There he was, ready to sacrifice something more precious to him than himself, when Allah came and replaced Ibrahim with a lamb.  To this day Muslims commemorate this event by sacrificing an animal for the sake of Allah, partaking of some of it themselves, passing some as gifts to their relatives, and distributing the rest to charity to feed those who have little or no food.  On the way to this task pilgrims perform the “Stoning of the Jamaraat” where they cast stones on the 3 pillars which represent temptation and weakness in Ibrahim’s quest for obedience to His Lord.

So let us remember Ibrahim ‘alaihis-salaam especially in these days of worship, sacrifice, and celebration.  But remember that we are supposed to reflect on him in all our daily prayers.  It is not just the big dramatic sacrifices that show devotion, but the small sacrifices we need to make daily because the steady patience required for that can be as great.  Our Lord teaches us the motto of our lives when He instructs us to say: “Verily, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the Worlds.” (Suratul Baqarah)