Arfa Yassir, Swindon
Love, and its pursuit, drives the world. The love of life, family, wealth, luxury, happiness, power, influence, authority, fame and so on. Being able to love and sacrifice something for a greater good is the hallmark of humankind and reminds us that our creation is indeed meaningful.
Love flows through the fabric of life and connects us all. We might want to give away everything for something or someone we love, and without any hard feelings either. In 1936, Edward VIII abdicated the throne to be with the woman he loved, which is now widely considered to be one of the greatest love stories of the 20th century.
Love can not be sought without being ready to make sacrifices; similarly to seek the love of our Creator we need a selfless spirit of sacrifice.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica the original use of the term ‘sacrifice’ was religious, deriving from the Latin sacrificium, which is a combination of the words sacer, meaning something set apart from the secular or profane for the use of supernatural powers, and facere, meaning ‘to make.’[1] If we try to understand this word in religious terms, we can think of it as a means of disconnecting from the world in order to connect with our Creator.
A cursory look at the Arabic Lexicon reveals a connection between the two Arabic words qurb (nearness) and qurbani (sacrifice). Qurbani is driven from the root qurb. Sacrifice is a part of nearness to someone or something and there can never be a spirit of sacrifice without love and vice versa.
True love does not come without struggle, yet the sacrifices that follow might not necessarily bring peace and harmony. However, the love that springs from the love of our Creator, is the purest kind and brings our beings to a state of harmony. If we love our family, friends, community and humanity for the sake of God Almighty, then such a love and the sacrifices we make for it will bring nothing but peace.
The Holy Qur’an is the book of love; it teaches us how to know and love our Creator, and hence honour and respect His Creation. A person who loves his or her Creator, and is able to make any sacrifice for Him, can then also serve humanity by selflessly loving and caring for those around them. Such a person is a vital part of society and helps in creating an atmosphere of peace and love.
So what role, apart from spiritual upgrade, does the spirit of sacrifice play for an individual, and how can it be applied in our day-to-day life? The tiny sacrifices we can make every day will help strengthen the ties within family and community. Sacrificing our ego to be the first to forgive someone, apologise and reconcile, might seem like a relatively simple practice, but is in reality very difficult. Sacrifice of ego is the biggest sacrifice as it is a personal act of bravery, but one which has the ability to tremendously enhance the beauty and longevity our relationships. To sacrifice ego, all we need is to set the love of our Creator as our top most priority; with such a mindset we can easily make this sacrifice.
Also, with the busy schedules of this day and age, if we are willing to sacrifice our time to get in touch with and meet the ones we haven’t caught up with in a while, it will help enhance mutual bonding and love.
Islam is a beautiful religion, which not only helps us understand the meaning of love and sacrifice, but also makes it a part of our day to day life. Adjusting our schedules around the compulsory five daily Prayers, is a powerful reminder every day about the real purpose of our life and willingness to sacrifice anything for His sake. Be it the little things like re-scheduling a task or meeting for Prayer or the ultimate sacrifice of laying down one’s life for the cause of religion, a believer must be ever ready for sacrifice. This not only helps us in spiritual upgrade but also creates an atmosphere of love around ourselves.
Voice of British Muslim Women 
Leave a comment