Eid-ul Adha - Friday Sermon - 5th December 2008

7 Dhul-Hijjah 1429 AH

All praise is due to Allah (swt) Who is the sustainers of all the universe. May the peace and blessings of Allah (swt) be upon Muhammad (saw), his family, his companions, and all those who follow him in righteousness until the day of resurrection.

Respected Brothers and sisters at home; today I want to describe some important facts about Eid-ul Adha.
As you all know, Eid means happiness and joy, but 'Adha' comes from Udhiya, which is an Arabic word meaning 'blood sacrifice'. Qurbani is an urdu and Persian word derived from the Arabic word 'Qurban', which literally means an act performed to seek Allah's pleasure. It is technically used for the sacrifice of animals which are slaughtered for the sake of Allah. So Eid-ul Adha means 'the feast/celebration of sacrifice'. The sacrifice of an animal has always been a recognised form of worship in many religions. But in the 'Shariah' (Islamic sacred law) of our beloved Prophet (saw), the sacrifice of an animal has been recognised as a form of worship which is done only during three specific days of the month of Dhul-Hijjah, namely the 10th, 11th and 12th.
Allah (swt) says in the Qur'an:

"Verily we have given you abundance (o Muhammad), so pray to your lord and sacrifice. It is the insulter (and not you) who is will be cut off." Surah 108. (AlKauthar) Of all the physical and spiritual worshipping, the greatest is salah, and among the worships concerning wealth, sacrifice holds a distinguished position, because the original spirit of sacrifice was to sacrifice the soul. The replacement of an animal was made due to some reasons as it is clear from the story of Hazrat Ibraheem (as) and Hazrat Ishmail (as). That is why, in some places of the Qur'an, the mention of salah is made together with 'Qurbani'.

Respected brothers, during the last few Jummuas' I have been delivering sermons about the Fazail of Hajj, and masail of Qurbani. Today I want to depict some very important matters that are related to Eid-ul Adha. Before the Masail of Takbeerath of tashreek, we should learn how thistakbeerath came about. As you all know, the Prophet Ibraheem (as), made a prayer to Allah (swt), in surah As-Saffat, chapter 37, verse 100: "O Allah, grant me of the righteous," Allah (swt) answered, "So We gave him tidings of a gentle son." and when his son was old enough to walk with him, Ibraheem (as) said," My dear son, I have seen in a dream that I must sacrifice you, so look, what say you?" He said, "O my father! Do that which you are commanded. Allah willing, you shall find me of the steadfast."

Brothers and sisters; Prophet Ibraheem (as), took his son to Mina, to perform the sacrifice. But as he was about to cut his sons throat, the knife wouldn't cut. So Ibraheem (as) asked the knife, "Why won’t you cut?" The knife replied, "O Ibraheem. You do your job, and I'll do mine. Allah ordered you to cut, and Allah ordered me not to cut."

At that moment, Allah (swt) sent Gibraeel (as) to Ibraheem with a lamb from heaven, and as Gibraeel approached, he said, "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar." When the Prophet Ibraheem (as) saw Gibraeel, Ibraheem (as) said, "Laa ilaha illallahu Allahu Akbar." And when Hadhrath Ishmaeelrealised that Ibraheems sacrifice had been accepted, Ishmaeel said, "AllahuAkbar. Wa lillahil Hamd." Allah was so pleased with this act of appreciation of theirs, and for this reason, Allah has made the utterance of this takbeer obligatory, during the days of Qurbani, which mark the days that this glorified incident occurred.

The Masails of takbeerat of tashreek in order is:

1) It is wajib for every adult muslim to recite the takbeerat of tashreek after every fardh salah, which is performed with jamat after the fajr salt on the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah until after the asr salat on the 13th of Dhul-Hijjah. This equals 23 salahs altogether, which will start this Sunday after fajr, and will continue until Thursady after asr.
2) The Takbeer should be recited once after each of the 23 namazs'.
3) It should be recited in an audible tone, not silently and not very loudly.
4) It is desirable for those who perform their salat alone (men or women), and musaafirs (travelers), to recited these takbeerat softly.
5) The takbeerat to be recited as follows; "Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest; There is no Deity besides Allah, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest and all praise belongs to Him alone."
6) According to some Ulama, it is also wajib to say this takbeer after the salat of Eid-ul Adha. Usually we recite after Eid salat too.

Secondly, is it permissible to trim nails and cut hair before the sacrifice? This could be understood from the following hadith. Hazrat Umme Salama (ra) reports that the apostle of Allah (swt) said: "whoever sights the crescent moon of Dhul-Hijjah, and is intending to make a sacrifice should remain from cutting his bodily hair and paring his nails." Muslim.

Thus, after sighting the Dhul-Hijjah crescent, it is desirable for a man intending to make a sacrifice to refrain from cutting the hair from his body and paring his nails until he has slaughtered the animal. This is because he is making a sacrifice in lieu of the sacrifice of his own life. Each part of the sacrificial animal is in lieu of each part of his own body.

The holy Prophet (saw) has given this order that nopart of his body may be absent at the time of the descent of divine mercy. If more than forty days have passed, one should not be idle in removing unwantedhair, and nails etc, in order to save oneself from 'karaahat'. (Abomination). Thirdly, some of you may know this hadith.

The Prophet (saw) said:
"The heart of a person who remains awake in ibaadah, during the night of Eidul-fitr and Eid-ul Adha will not die on the day when hearts will be dead, the day of Qiyamah."

And the Prophet (saw) said:
"Those who keep fast on the day of Arafah, Allah (swt) will forgive his sins of the previous year and the following year." Respected brothers, we should try our utmost to keep the fast on Arafah day and perform extra ibaadah during the night of Eid.

Fourthly, the sunan of Eid-ul Adha are as follows:

1) Awaken earlier than usual, if having slept during the night. 2) Brush the teeth with miswaak. 3) Have a ghusl (bath). 4) Be well dressed, in an islamic manner. 5) Dress in ones best clothes, not necessarily new. 6) Use attar. (Perfume oil) 7) Avoid eating before Eid salat. 8) Go to the place of namaz early. 9) Walk to the place of Eid namaz (if it is withinwalking distance), then those that live far away, or really need it, will get parking spaces. 10) Recite the takbeerat loud on the way to the place of Eid namaz. 11) Use different routes, to and from the Eid salat.
On a final note, the month of Dhul-Hijjah has started from the 29th November last Saturday. Today is the 7th of Dhul-Hijjah, andit has been announced that the day of Arafah will be on Sunday 7th December, and Eid will be on Monday 8th December. And also, just to remind you. There will be two EidJamaats. The first one will be at 9:30am and the second Jamaat will be at 10:30am. May Allah (swt) give thawfiq to all of the Muslim Ummah to gain His blessings and mercy through Hajj, Qurabani and Eid-ul Adha.

Ameen!

Posted on Dec, 2008 by Md Yousuf Saleh