Voice of British Muslim Women

Basma Malik, Roehampton

‘Say, ‘My Prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds.’ (6:163)

Sacrifice is a concept that is present in religions and cultures from the Hebrews to the Aztecs notably in the form of animal sacrifice. In the religious context, sacrifice is a complex phenomenon and an essential part of worship. In Arabic, the word for sacrifice is ‘dhabaha’ and usually refers to the slaughtering of an animal as sacrifice, as is done for Eid Ul Adha in memory of Hazrat Ibrahim’s (peace be on him) act of obedience to his Lord where he was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice of his own son for the sake of Allah’s pleasure.

Indeed, sacrifice is not a concept unique to Islam, it is present everywhere. People from all over the world sacrifice for what they love. So, what makes the concept of sacrifice in Islam different? Sacrifice in Islam is for the Divine Being Who is responsible for everything in the world and has the power to give endlessly to the one who is near to Him. He is the Source of all that is good, beautiful and peaceful in the world. However, Islam is a religion with much depth and as such all forms of sacrifice in Islam are multi-faceted.

Both Eid Ul Fitr and Eid Ul Adha are celebrated after sacrifice; prior to Eid Ul Fitr we forsake food and drink for Allah Almighty. This act not only allows one to attain the pleasure of Allah as we lay aside our physical needs for a while to focus on spirituality, but it also cultivates discipline, health and the understanding of what the poor suffer from and gratitude.

The word Islam means submission to Allah Almighty through which a Muslim attains righteousness and peace. Indeed ultimate submission requires sacrificing for the pleasure of Allah, giving up what one cherishes for His sake. To obtain anything in life one has to endeavour and struggle in some way or another, therefore to attain the pleasure of God and to become a true believer one also has to sacrifice. Sacrifice altogether increases and strengthens one’s iman (faith) and it enforces self-discipline taking one away from worldly pleasures and towards the pleasure of the Creator as it shows that the pleasure of God is more important to a believer than anything else in this world.

His Holiness Khalifatul Masih V, the worldwide head of our Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has mentioned:

‘One should be ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of Allah. One should be ready to sacrifice a small thing to attain a much more exalted goal; one should be ready to follow God’s commands always.’ (Eid Ul Adha Sermon 12th August 2019).

There are different forms of sacrifice in Islam for example sacrificing time to perform prayer, forsaking food and drink in the form of fasting, financial sacrifice, sacrificing one’s likes and dislikes for Allah’s sake and showing patience in times of trials, and self-sacrifice in the form of doing charitable actions and the ultimate self-sacrifice of martyrs for the cause of faith.

The Holy Quran states: ‘Never shall you attain to righteousness unless you spend out of that which you love; and whatever you spend, Allah surely knows it well.’ (3:93), this makes it clear that financial sacrifice, which is the fruit of one’s labour is an essential requirement for attaining righteousness.

Genuinely striving to achieve the Pleasure of Allah will of course bring with it immense blessings, likewise it is a way of showing gratitude to Allah for the infinite number of things He has bestowed upon us.