By Iqbal Suleiman
Eid ul Adha is a day of sacrifice rooted in Abrahamic consciousness. Prophet Abraham (A.S) was willing to lay down his own life and remained defiant in his resistance to injustice when the imperial monarch Nimrod threw him into the fire to kill him for resisting the injustice of Nimrods tyrannical rule. Abraham (A.S) had no fear of death and willingly faced death in the eye. But what was more sacred to Abraham than his own life? Giving your own life for a cause is generally considered the ultimate sacrifice. Can there be a greater sacrifice than sacrificing your own life?
What is more difficult for Abraham (A.S) than to sacrifice his own life? It was to sacrifice the life of his son Ismail because Abraham loved his son Ismail more than he loved his own life. Ismail is what brought light and joy to the heart of Abraham, made him tender and made him look forward to every day. So when God presents him with this ultimate test, Abraham (A.S) is shaken to the core but willingly surrenders to God and offers to sacrifice his beloved son Ismail (A.S). Abraham (A.S) is titled Hanif, the worshipper and of the monotheistic God, one most advanced in loving and worshipping God. (Abraham A.S) and Ismail (A.S) both surrendered to the will of God. This is the meaning of Islam, surrendering to the will of God. Thus any person who surrenders to the will of God and struggles in pursuit of justice is a Muslim.
Every day, in every obligatory prayer five times a day, Muslims remember and recite the name of Abraham(A.S) and the family of Abraham(A.S) together with Muhammad(p.b.u.h) and the family of Muhammad (p.b.u.h). This link is not merely spiritual but also ideological. It is at the core of believing in the oneness of God. Many Muslim parents actualize this Abrahamic consciousness and name their sons Muhammad Hanif, thus combining the name of the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) and “Hanif “Prophet Abraham (A.S). By doing this they advance the Islamic Universalism by celebrating all of God’s holy Prophets from Adam (A.S) to Muhammad (p.b.u.h). Muhammad (p.b.u.h) named his own son Abraham. The brother of Hussein was named Muhammad Hannafiya by Imam Ali (A.S).
So why it is then that God wants the believer before the end of every prayer to remember Abraham (A.S) and his family together with Muhammad (p.b.u.h) and his family? Surely, there must be a reason and purpose to this? And what is the meaning of sacrifice on this day of Eid? How does sacrifice connect the family of Muhammad (p.b.u.h) to the family of Ebrahim (A.S)?
Abraham (A.S) was willing to sacrifice his son Ismail (A.S). Every Eid, when animals are slaughtered to remember the school of sacrifice and resistance, committed Muslims picture the epic scene. A doting father Abraham (A.S), about to sacrifice his son in an awe inspiring expression of surrender to God. And while on this day of Eid Ul Adha, everyone is familiar with the practice of sacrificing sheep and distributing the meat to the poor, each person should be conscientized in the school of Abrahamic consciousness. This ideology of self-sacrifice was actualized by the Ahlu Bayt (Family of Muhammad).
Muhammad (p.b.u.h) was not only willing to sacrifice his sons like Abraham p.b.u.h) but in reality sacrificed all of his sons. The family of Muhammad (p.b.u.h) have always been at the forefront in the fight for justice and the first to sacrifice their blood. After the martyrdom of Muhammad (p.b.u.h) most of the imams from the family of Muhammad (p.b.u.h) were also martyred in the struggle for truth and justice. In quick succession, Imam Ali (A.S), Imam Hassan (A.S) and Imam Hussein (A.S) returned to God as martyrs.
Hussein. The one who is dearest to Muhammad (p.b.u.h). The little one whom the Messenger would enthusiastically seek out and ask “Where is the little beauty”. The little beauty who would jump on the back of the Prophet whilst he was prostrating in prayer and whom the Prophet did not want to inconvenience so much so that he would remain in prostration until Hussein had jumped off his back and would not fall or get hurt. The Messenger could not bear any hurt to come to Hussein. Muhammad (p.b.u.h) loved his grandsons Hussein and Hassan more than he loved himself but he socialised them into the revolutionary school of Islam that made them leaders in the fight for justice and martyrs who gave their lives for freedom in the Abrahamic tradition. Hussein and the family of Muhammad (p.b.u.h) are the ones who were sacrificed on the fields of Karbala. There is thus a direct link between Karbala and Eid Ul Adha, between Abraham and Muhammad, between Ismail and Hussein. Eid ul Adha is about the day of sacrifice and sacrifice is spelt with the name of Imam Hussein. Eid Ul Adha is the culmination of Haj, the spiritual exertion and effort that brings the human soul to the realization that he is nothing and God is everything. Eid is a day of sacrifice, a red day, the redness rooted in the blood of Hussein and all the sons and daughters from the family of the Prophet (p.b.u.h). It is a day to remember all the martyrs who gave their lives in pursuit of justice.
There is something that Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) says about Hussein which he has not said about any other person. “I am of Hussein and Hussein is of me”. Why? Because Hussein has a unique place in history. Muhammad (p.b.u.h) was the leader of the Islamic Movement and Imam Hussein is the revolutionary guard of the Islamic Movement. When the Islamic Government, degenerates into a hereditary monarchy, Hussein rises up. He says no to injustice and hereditary monarchy, no to capitalism, no to tyranny. At a time when the common people are afraid to rise up and resist because resistance means death. When no one is prepared to speak truth to power because power is brutal and ruthless.
Hussein has approximately 72 comrades. The enemy has six thousand soldiers. There is no chance of victory. There is only one outcome, death and martyrdom. Earthly logic says run away, build your movement and fight when you are stronger and have a chance of victory. This is what others are thinking. But not Hussein. Hussein sees things differently. Hussein is the heir to Abraham (A.S) and Muhammad (p.b.u.h). He cannot surrender to earthly tyrants. He knows that there will not be an immediate military victory but that his martyrdom and resistance is a catalyst for the Islamic revolutionary victory and freedom for all the people. He knows with certainty that his defiance and resistance means death and there is no possibility of coming out alive. Hussein choses death and martyrdom. It is both a historical and eternal choice because Hussein is to inspire revolutionaries throughout history. Were it not for Hussein’s legacy many battles would not have been fought and many tyrants would not have been toppled. Martyrdom is a conscious choice. The human being who is born free and is devoted to his Creator cannot be a slave to tyrants and thugs. He cannot accept injustice.
Thus the revolutionary refrain of Muhammad (p.b.u.h) who said “I am of Hussein and Hussein is of me”. Isn’t this the reason your beloved Creator wants you to remember the family of Abraham (A.S) and the family of Muhammad (p.b.u.h) simultaneously in every Salah (prayer)?
This is Eid ul Adha in the year 2026 and most definitely the Eid of Imam al Hussein. It is the first Eid after the victory of the Ramadan War.
The people of Iran have demonstrated that they are the heirs of Abraham (A.S), Muhammad (p.b.u.h) and Hussein. Abrahams (A.S) arch enemy Nimrod was a monarchical absolutist as was Hussein’s enemy Yazid. Netanyahu like Nimrod systematically pursued a policy of genocidal infanticide. Nimrod is reported to have pursued a genocidal infanticide that killed seven thousand male infants in a period of 40 years. The Israeli Zionist Netanyahu has slaughtered more than twenty thousand Palestinian children in less than three years thus exceeding even the Nimrodic barbarism. On the first day of the Ramadan War, America and Israel slaughtered approximately 150 school children at a school in Minab, Iran. The first act of war was Nimrodic and Yazidic. The resistance to the unlawful war was heroic and Husseinic. The leader of Islamic Iran, Imam Khamenei led from the front, he refused to hide out in safety under a mountainous bunker. He like Hussein chose martyrdom. Islamic Iran sacrificed the cream of its crop. The best of its men and women were killed resisting the Imperialist and Zionist aggression. A few days before his martyrdom, Ali Larijani was walking in the streets without any bodyguards, freely and fearlessly amongst hundreds of thousands of Iranians where he poignantly said “We are the people of Imam Hussein, we do not hide in bunkers”. As a country, Islamic Iran like Imam Hussein stood alone facing the world’s only economic and military superpower America, and the military superpower of the Middle East, Israel. The odds were overwhelming against Iran. On paper, Iran stood no chance. The war was supposed to be over in a few days. There was no military parity to speak of. But more than eighty days later, not only is Iran standing but America and Israel are on the back foot, in retreat. The reason for the victory in this Ramadan war can be captured in one word. Hussein. The people of Iran like their leaders sacrificed their lives for freedom, independence, sovereignty, dignity, truth, justice and the liberation of Palestine. It was this Husseinic self—sacrifice of the Iranian people that culminated in the victory of the Ramadan war.