Eid al Adha – a time of sacrifice and unity
The Prophet (peace be on him) used to reciteSurat Al-‘Ala and Surat Al-Ghashiyah at Eid. These are Makkah surahs, which characteristically mention imaan, the challenges of society and the temptations of dunya and reward for obedience contrasted by the punishment for ignoring or defying Allah. The same theme is repeated in both surahs. This way the Prophet (peace be upon him) kept reminding the ummah from one Friday to the next and from Eid to another, of the important message that dunya will grab you. Do not be deluded by the dunya – it will tempt you and entice you and charm you with its beauty.
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ ۖ فَلَا تَغُرَّنَّكُمُ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَلَا يَغُرَّنَّكُم بِاللَّهِ الْغَرُورُ
“O mankind, indeed the promise of Allah is true. So let not the worldly life delude you, and be not deceived about Allah by the Deceiver (i.e. Shayṭān).” (35:5)
We need to keep refreshing our imaan, and remember the nature of this world is to test us. The nature of the test is that it is not easy. Otherwise, it would not be a test. So prepare yourself for the challenges around you. The Prophet (peace be upon him) stated in order to past the test you have to overcome what you hate.
Jannah is surrounded by temptation whilst hell is surrounded by the fence of what we hate, that is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
حُفَّتِ الجَنَّةُ بِالمَكَارِهِ، وَحُفَّتِ النَّارُ بِالشَّهَوَاتِ
“Paradise is surrounded by hardships and Hellfire is surrounded by desires.” (Muslims)
The path to Jannah entails sacrifice and Eid al Adha is a day of sacrifice. In order to secure Paradise, you have to sacrifice your desires. In the symbolic story of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), we see that he was prepared to sacrifice what he loved dearly. His very firstborn son, who he had been blessed with after such a long wait. Yet, he said “Labayk Allah – I am at Your service.” But Allah did not allow him to go through with the sacrifice. It was a test, not to take his son, but to see if Ibrahim could give up what he loved most for the sake of his Lord. And he passed this test of ikhlas (sincerity). This is one of the two conditions which make a deed accepted by Allah. The second is that the deed should be in line with prophetic guidance.
Deeds are lifeless objects, they only come alive when they have the spirit of sincerity. We are watching today, AI, take over with soulless statements and actions. It is erasing ikhlas. Be careful. Do not allow anything to replace your sincerity, as the core of our deeds is ikhlas.
We ask Allah on this special day of sacrifice to bring our Ummah together, as we all recite the takbeer, showing the unity of our Ummah. We ask Allah to keep us united always. Ameen.
Based on the khutbah of Shaykh Haytham Tamim on 6th June 2025