Sacrifice for peace
M. Mizanur Rahman :
We are remembering every year very solemnly the great day of Sacrifice on Eid ul-Azha but we are yet to recollect how far we practice the morale of this great auspicious day !
We must have to remember our National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam who gave us a right order of sermon as saying –
“This day is not for the slaughter of beasts
But for the invocation of truth and strength”
(Nazrul Islam by Mizanur Rahman, p.144)
There is no doubt that every civilised person all over the world like peace but not war or conflict between human beings. This civilised human aptitude must be kept up for the betterment of mankind all over the world. For that wisdom must prevail and in all steps ignorance must be eradicated in the light of knowledge. Earlier many Prophets and sages showed us the path of peace instead of conflict or war because in this vast emptiness of endless space of the universe along with its super-constellation having planetary complex and wonder of other creations of the unknown being what we call Allah or God or by any name that is professed by any faith on earth, human beings have to live in peaceful co-existence.
Our Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam ie. peace be upon him.) taught us to lead that peaceful life in circumstances even where unwelcome and undue foes will have to be subdued by the most favourable and friendly behaviour of their host Muslims. Let us learn that sense of sacrifice from this sacred and auspicious day of celebrating the pleasant air of Eid-ul-Azha. Here is none to be called rich or poor, in the truest sense of the term, but Musalman who preaches and practices Islam where everyone is equal in social, economic and political term.
When Allah bade Ibrahim (A.S) to put his most precious thing in life-that was his son Ismail-on sacrifice in a dream only whereas he obeyed it practically because he loved Allah, the unseen Supreme Being so much so, but on the eve of real sacrifice a sheep was replaced miraculously ! This was what a symbol of love ! Man can love Allah but why not human; the transient being that is created by Allah with love? For Ibrahim Allah as dearly loved as his son and vice versa. This is the learning that emanates from Islam. Islam means peace.
Our National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam composed a piece of great poem on Eid-ul-Azha as ‘Shahidi Eid’ in which he counseled human being,
“Slaughter the beast in you at your heart
for you live and let the animals(others) live.”
Traditionally we, in Islam, inherit most magnanimous rituality provided we practice it for the welfare of the people strictly. One should remember that Eid-ul-Azha is not a fashion. It is a ritual performance where saying prayer is also a devotion to praise the Almighty Allah for His magnificent bounties for the mankind whereas symbolically to that extent we offer sacrifice of animal to achieve rewards hereafter in the other world is minuscule. So let us hear what poet speaks of that great love and bounties of Allah, the Almighty –
I wonder, Whose absolute hands
work on every soul everyday?
And Whose hands laid the constellation
over the vast firmament?
…
Does the sun
play the real role?
That all the rays’ air in the whole!
Who is the herald of this all time sacrifice
and Who’s that Absolute Soul?
….
Of which our fires spring forth?
Is that a Great Might
which puts us on the balance of power?
Under Whose eternal guidance
runs the boundless hour?
….
I wonder, from the mother’s womb
we come empty handed to this light,
but alas!
Every way we grab something
and fight each other to place our right.
In our mind if we hold the real sense of sacrifice,
it is not far at achieving peace of eternal bliss.
(‘The Sacrifice’ This poem is extracted from
the book of verse, ‘A Heart that bleeds’
by M.Mizanur Rahman, page-28)
Now is the time for the soldiers of peace – the Muslims to wake up to bring about a revolution to change in their life style on honest footing.
For long they have been in the trap of imperialists and capitalists who have looted not only their wealth to handful of morsel of foodstuff but also their character, high morale and frustrated them by making them terrorists from their peaceful habitats! See for instance Iraq, the Muslim majority country has since been ravaged by the war perpetrated by them to destroy the people and their properties on false premises. The same episode could be seen in Afghanistan. The same catastrophe is created in Palestine and other places. All these disasters could be happened due to lacking in far-sightedness, disunity, dissensions and disintegration of the Muslims. The Muslims could not understand the destructive and so-called diplomacy of the enemies of peace. Now is the time to wake up unitedly to combat the aggressors with strong hands by high morale and defend lands of peace. We should put our intelligence to the zenith to outwit and destroy the enemies of peace for good.
“On the altar of sacrificial stage you put your animal for sacrifice then only
When you will be set free from your oppressors and your faith will be freed.
Let this sacrificial blood be inflamed to fire
burning the oppressors traceless.” (‘Korbani’ by Kazi Nazrul Islam)
Our sincerest resurgence to the faith of Islam shall give us the shield of protection to us and our community at every stake. A faithless one can never stand erect to face the challenge of time. S/he will simply be submitted to slavery to carry out the order of the master.
We cannot allow obscenity in moral, physical or in mental culture like our ritual traditionalism as civilised Muslims. Neither we can expect violence in our culture and tradition nor does someone have any authority to override our sacred faith undoing the righteous cause of it.
We must have eternal vigilance towards such righteousness at every step so that corruption cannot take place in our sacred mind. We are proud of our Faith in which humanity, love and peace are the essence above everything.
Eid-ul- Azha has taught us to face all odds and ordeals with courage and determination to overcome. We must win a day no matter come what may.
(The author of this auricle is a poet, translator, essayist and columnist.)