Lessons learned from Father's Day and Feast of Sacrifice!
Adel Eldin, MD FACC FACP, MBA, GGA
Board Certified Cardiologist, Founder/CEO Pronto Care and Florida Medical Tourism, Global Healthcare Leader,Entrepreneur, Speaker, Consultant
Certain special times in life can not pass by without reflecting. Sunday, June 16 will coincide not only with Father's Day but also, with the Feast of Sacrifice ( Eid Al Adha) which is celebrated globally. The preceding first 10 days of the Lunar Month marking pilgrimage happen to be the Holiest days on the Islamic calendar. These days are so precious to the point that God Almighty ( Allah), swore by these precious days pointing out their tremendous significance to observe and honor!
So, reflecting on the lessons of sacrifice starts with our common father Prophet Ibraham( or Ibraheem in Arabic) the one who practiced and preached Monotheism having one God to be worshiped. He was a great father figure !. We are all influenced by our fathers' hard work to support and provide for the family but also build character, faith, and submission to our Creator!
Prophet Ibraham's sacrifice started when he was a teenager, he was searching for God and respectfully disagreed with his father on what was practiced back then of worshiping idles he went on with his search looking at the moon and son and he concluded it could not be either and he was punished for that and thrown to a big fire ( which God Almighty has made it nice and cool )and he walked out of the fire safe and this took place in Iraq!
Later, Prophet Ibraham was ordered by God Almighty to go to a lifeless place back then leaving his wife Hager, mother of baby Ismael who later also became a Prophet, strategically being the center of Earth, called Makka and as he was leaving his wife and baby behind, so his faithful wife asked him ( Were you ordered to do this, and when he replied yes, she said God will never waste us!
She has firm faith in God and she went on her frantic search for water in the desert between two mountains called Safa and Marwa not once or twice but seven times after which time a whooshing sound of water came out and has been since then flowing with this Holy water called Zamzam water and continue to flow till the day of Judgment and brought life, people and plants there.It is difficult to describe this water but if anyone tastes it , will be always crave more as it cleanses and energizes! especially after going 7 rounds.
She never panicked during this tough situation as she had deep faith that God will come to her rescue. Pilgrims simulate this effort called( Saee) and during a part , there is a faster walk or light jog to learn the lesson of submission to God's Will, doing your best effort, and never giving up if you fail the first few times around! She never asked for a divorce or had a mental competency exam performed on her husband!
Then as young Prophet Ismail grew and became a great help to his older father Ibraham and built the first House of God in Makka Prophet Ibraham made the call for all mankind to come to Makka for pilgrimage and answer his call. So, thousands of years later, millions and millions have come whether on foot walking, or driving or by ship or by plane, all humanity converge on the holiest spot on earth to visit the house of God in Makka, at least once in a lifetime to perform mandatory Pilgrimage for those who can afford it both physically and financially. Prophet Ibraham was not selfish as he prayed to God to establish prayers on a regular basis and to his progeny and offspring to do exactly the same till the day of judgment.
Then, comes another test from God Prophet Ibraham that he saw in his dream that he was sacrificing his son Ismael and had a dialogue with his son to see what Ismael thought about that dream. He knew his father is a Prophet of God and this dream was a message from God, so Ismael answered beautifully and said ( Dad, do what you were commanded to do, you will find me among the patient ones!) Again the son did not say, ( this is crazy!)
Both Prophets were obedient to God's commands( test) and as Prophet Ibraham was walking to a place near Makka called Mena, he was interrupted by Satan who tried to sway him from sacrificing his son fulfilling God commands, then Prophet Ibrahim picked up small pebbles and threw them at the Satan( devil) seven times and Satan kept trying for the second and the third time but again Prophet Ibrahim threw other pebbles 7 times at each spot. These symbolic rituals of stoning Satan is to teach us not to let Satan win and take us away from God's path. When the moment of truth came and Ismael was about to be sacrificed, then they both passed this very tough test of faith, and a sacrificial lamb replaced Ismael. Hence the lesson of full submission again to the will of God knowing that He is our Creator and He is more kind to us than the mom to her baby!
So, sacrificing an animal is not about the meat, but rather fear of God and fulfilling His commands. Also, this meat is shared with family, friends, and needy neighbors in the local and global communities most of whom will have their only one chance a year to actually get to taste and eat meat!
Thus, it is Prophet Ibraham who named anyone who submits his or herself to one Almighty God will be called a Muslim. His prayer is to have a future Prophet who will come with guidance, wisdom, and the book of God as the seal of all prophets and as a mercy to all mankind till the day of Judgement, that is the beloved Prophet Mohamed ( Peace Be Upon Him) who came thousands of years later as an answer to Prophet Ibraham prayer.
The lesson learned is to always do good deeds as long as you live till the last minute, as Prophet Mohamed( PBUH) said if you have a tree in your hand and the day of Judgement comes, go ahead and plant that tree!
Some may say time is over, what good will come out of this?. You do the efforts sincerely and the results are in the hands of our Creator.
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In a nutshell, these lessons of patience, deep faith, obedience full submission to God, perseverance and never giving up especially during tough times just like what the world is having nowadays!
Great things happened due to multiple sacrifices that many good men and women young and old, white and black, rich and poor have done throughout history. Someone stepped out of their comfort zone to help someone else who is less fortunate and needed help desperately.
The spirit of sacrifice is badly needed as the world we live in has so many tragedies of so many people dying every day because of hunger, violence, brutal rulers displacing millions who lost homes, savings, and everything including hope with victims mostly children in heartbreaking images we say daily. Also, other natural disasters floods, hurricanes, and fires devastate people.
So, let us sacrifice whatever, whenever, and wherever we can to help so many people without pointing fingers or playing the blame game!
Eid Al Adha ( feast of Sacrifice) is set to be celebrated globally on Sunday, June 16th which happens to be Father's Day! Happy Feast and Happy Father's Day!
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