Sacrificing for All
Idul Adha carries value laden with deep meaning for Muslims. The ritual worship of the Day of Sacrifice radiates gratitude and submission to the Creator.
A picture taken July 26, 2020, shows tents for housing pilgrims between the holy sites of Arafat and Mina in Saudi Arabia\'s holy city of Mecca, ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage season. - Saudi Arabia begins on July 29 hosting the annual hajj pilgrimage, dramatically downscaled due to the coronavirus pandemic that has barred millions of international pilgrims for the first time in modern history.
Idul Adha carries value laden with deep meaning for Muslims. The ritual worship of the Day of Sacrifice radiates gratitude and submission to the Creator. At the same time, it nourishes the spirit and faith so Muslims can spread genuine and universal good for humanity.
The gratitude of a servant of the faith is the deepest spiritual awareness of the gift of the Al-Kausar Surah in the Quran. As God says: "We have given thee abundance. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice [to Him alone]. Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off." (Al-Kausar: 1-3).
The price of an animal is small for those who can afford it when compared to the incalculable blessings of God.
Also read : Vice President Ma\'ruf Amin: Idul Adha a Moment for Sharing Goodness
Prophet Ibrahim, Siti Hajar (Hajar), and their beloved son Ismail were even willing to sacrifice their lives to obey God\'s commands that were delivered through a dream. In the end, the sublime sacrifice was replaced by a sacrificial animal.
It is an act symbolizing genuine loyalty and obedience to God and freeing themselves from earthly confines. All three demonstrate the true nature of faith that is hanif (authentic), beyond oral worship.
Manifesting piety
Sacrifice does not only mean slaughtering animals according to sharia. The ultimate goal is to test the degree of one’s piety, as Allah says: "The flesh of the animal and its blood cannot reach Allah\'s (pleasure), but it is your piety that can achieve it" (Al Hajj: 37). If even an animal is a heavy sacrifice, where is the pious soul of a believer? Worship does not stop at religious rituals and practices.
Piety (takwa) is the spiritual peak of a believer whose life is always close to the Creator and produces the virtues of life for himself, for others, and for the environment. It is the deepest faith in the heart that generates piety and good deeds that can spread rahmatan lil-\'alamin (mercy for all creation).
This is faith that frees the soul from deconstruction as religious egoism, the purest attitude, and the tendency of takfiri (accusing another Muslim of apostasy), which may still grow in those who profess to be faithful.
Piety is a prophetic spiritual heart that enlightens the minds of believers, who radiate positive energy for others and the environment. Genuine piety creates a temperament of peace, tolerance, love of others, a heart open to diversity, and upholding virtues.
Also read : Hajj Proceeds with Strict Health Protocols
/https%3A%2F%2Fkompas.id%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F07%2F20200729_ENGLISH-HAJI_B_web_1596032073.jpg){kind=logo}
Hundreds of sacrificial goats are sold by animal traders in Sawojajar, Malang city, East Java, Wednesday (29/7/2020)
The practice of “amar makruf dan nahi mungkar” (enjoying what is right and forbidding what is wrong) should also be pursued with wisdom, educational purpose and dialogue in accordance with the virtues of da\'wah.
It is not piety if it is just beautiful words, while thoughts and temperament are to the contrary, such as habitual blaspheming, provoking, and igniting anger that spreads commotion in a shared space.
In the context of the nation and the state, the soul of piety should undoubtedly inform the behavior of every member of the elite and citizenry. Examples should match their words with action.
Also read: Idul Adha with Health Protocols
The principle of truth provides a space for dialogue that is lit with the torch of knowledge and wisdom. Spreading good deeds, tolerance, and upholding the common good should be practiced as part of a collective society.
Neither the elite nor ordinary citizens should prioritize their egos or cronies, harm the sense of togetherness, demean each other, betray the noble ideals of the country\'s founders or destroy the future of our beloved Indonesia.
At the micro level of behavior, among the characteristics of piety is "those who spend (wealth) in the way of Allah, both in plenty and hardship, who restrain their anger and forgive others. Allah loves such doers of good.” (Ali Imran: 134).
A hand out picture provided by Ministry of Media shows Muslim pilgrims leaving the Miqat-station dressed in "Ihram" (pilgrimage garment) heading towards Mecca on the first day of the annual Hajj pilgrimage amid the COVID-19 pandemic, on July 29, 2020.
In the words of the Prophet, a believer is one who loves others like he loves himself (H.R. Bukhari & Muslim). A soul with faith and piety has meaningful function and value that go beyond the formal pillars of religion.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, piety that employs ijtihad (independent reasoning towards a legal solution) can transform the ritual sacrifice of animals into cash donations to help others who are suffering, without the need to feel loss of merit or of the value of worship.
This “conversion” of the sacrificial ritual has a noble value and is relevant in helping others in a time of crisis. At the same time, religious gestures can offer solutions for humanitarian problems and saving lives together.
Will of togetherness
The sacrifice of Prophet Abraham, Ismail, and Siti Hajar through a sacrificial ritual may be difficult to understand, especially according to the logic of Yuval Noah Harari in Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, which tends to be positivistic, particularly with respect to the main mission of modern humans to defeat death and gain eternal youth for 500 years.
Islam, through the sacrifice of the three faithful who love God, precisely wants to convey the metaphysical message that life and death are not technical issues, but are rather of the prophetic domain with dimensions of transcendence, humanization and liberation (to borrow from Kuntowijoyo).
Life and death are habitus sacralis (sacred meaning) as well as profane (worldly meaning) that gives meaning to oneself, others, and the living environment in which every believer resides.
Also read : Sacrifice for Happiness
In this photo released by the Saudi Media Ministry, security personnel standby as a limited numbers of pilgrims arrive keeping social distancing to limit exposure and the potential transmission of the coronavirus, at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, July 29, 2020. The hajj, which started on Wednesday, is intended to bring about greater humility and unity among Muslims.
Religion, writes Peter L. Berger, must be “the sacred canopy” (a sacred protector) for people who experience lives of "chaos". When humans lose their soul in life, they need the bright path of religion.
Religion, according to the Tanwir Muhammadiyah declaration, is nothing more than an enlightening treatise to illuminate human intellect and systems within the universe.
Chaos can be interpreted as the loss of order, peace, civilization, and direction in life among modern humans because it deifies instrumental reasoning too much (in the words of Max Weber), while worshiping the material world.
When humans lose their soul in life, they need the bright path of religion.
So, that which is metaphysical and unreachable by sense and reason is not illusory and magical, but lays within the domain of "tacit knowledge" as described by Michael Polanyi.
It is precisely modern humans who need to reorient their meaning in life so that life and death are not merely technical issues that have lost their true meaning. Human beings possess high intelligence that other creatures of God do not possess.
In the real context, sacrificial worship during Idul Adha clearly represents a clear path of virtue that imbues a life of togetherness with meaning, peace, and mutual needs, even diversity.
/https%3A%2F%2Fkompas.id%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F07%2FPulang-Kampung-Melintasi-Jembatan-Suramadu_90747518_1596042772.jpg){kind=logo}
Travelers cross the Suramadu Bridge from Surabaya to Madura Island, East Java, Wednesday (29/7/2020). Two days ahead of Idul Adha (Day of Sacrifice), travellers passing by the bridge are dominated by residents who want to return home to Madura or known as toron.
Sacrifice must be interpreted as a willingness to share and to use the nature created by God communally. God created Al-Kausar in the world as a universe to be enjoyed and in which to prosper together, not just for a handful of greedy people. Stop being greedy, despite the many opportunities, because greed is destroying the country and the survival of the community.
In Mahatma Gandhi\'s wisdom, the universe will be filled with only greedy people. The greed of a handful of people is what is destroying the Earth and the universal order of life. (Al-Isra: 16)
From the spirit of sacrifice can be derived national altruism. Altruism has a prophetic character that embodies the message of heaven and earth.
Sacrifice must be interpreted as a willingness to share and to use the nature created by God communally.
Expand the virtues that can free our fellow countrymen from suffering. Make the mission of religion a path to universal empowerment, liberation, and enlightenment for all humanity. Prove that faith can give birth to love and care for others, not an religious arrogance and egoism.
God will be with His servants if His servants are helping their brothers (H.R. Ahmad). The aghniya -- the rich and powerful who control all access to life in the world – can reach Al-Kausar through the spirit of sacrifice if they are willing to share with their fellow children of the nation and save the fate of the country.
Haedar Nashir
Stop seeking things that harm the lives of others. Follow the voice of truth, even if it is faint, let alone if it is thunderous, so that the mind remains awash with light and life is meaningful in keeping with the examples of the glorious Abraham, Ismail, and Siti Hajar. Be willing to sacrifice together for the sake of saving life!
Haedar Nashir, The chairman of Muhammadiyah.
