The blessed days of Eid are upon us at the end of the blessed first 10 days of Dhul Hijja, which the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him mentioned as the best days of this dunya.

These 10 days include many gifts for the believer such as the day of Arafat, upon which Allah frees more inhabitants from the hellfire than any other time, and also the rituals of Hajj.

When a person embarks upon hajj they do so first with understanding the position this obligation holds in Islam. It is one of the 5 pillars of Islam and a once in a lifetime obligation for those who are able. Hajj is performed upon this understanding which builds a love for the sake of Allah to undertake that journey. It entails many financial and physical hardships but the view of seeking Allah’s pleasure over-rides these difficulties. After the niyah and the determination to do the hajj comes the preparation and transportation. People travel by boat, plane, car, camel and even by foot from the ends of the earth and converge on the holiest places on earth. Their aim is one; to worship Allah united on the objective of seeking His reward. Their Lord is one, their chant is one:

The origin of the hajj itself has its root in these very same concepts of obedience, sacrifice and seeking Allah’s reward. The actual Eid the hajj culminates in is aptly called Eid ul Adha- The Eid of Sacrifice. Allah ordered the Prophet Ibrahim to actually sacrifice his only son the Prophet Ismail by slaughtering him. He went to obey his Lord but moved by his parental love he asked Ismail what he thought he should do. Ismail’s response was also one of obedience even advising his father to turn his face away so he would not be tempted to disobey Allah. Is there a bigger test than to have to sacrifice your only child for the sake of Allah? Allah swt in His mercy replaced Ismail at the last moments with a ram and this is the tradition we perform. This ritual should remain a symbol of its original meaning with the full significance of total submission to Allah.

Allah also revealed the following ayah in these first ten days of Dhul Hijja:

“This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islâm as your religion” TMQ: Maeda 5:3

Allah has completed our deen for us – so do we need to seek other than the Islamic Khilafah to provide for us security and honour?

Allah has completed His Favour upon us – so do we need to bow to others seeking their favour?

Allah is Pleased with Islam as the deen for us – so how can we leave it secularised or change it to make others pleased?

Just as Ibrahim was prepared to sacrifice his son for the sake of Allah, and then the victory came to him, let us, the ummah of Mohammad (saw), be resolute that we are prepared to sacrifice our time, our efforts and much more for the sake of Allah’s Pleasure, for the sake of His Deen, and for the sake of returning the Shade of Islam to this world. We pray that after our sincere efforts Allah will bless us with a ram in the shape of the Khilafah State that restores the dignity to this wounded ummah and celebrate together united under the flag of Islam

Eid Mubarak.