Voice of British Muslim Women

 

In a month Muslims all over the world celebrated Eid ul Adha, also known as Eid of sacrifice, we present our second in a series of blogs on sacrifice and what it really means to followers of the Islamic faith.

Dr. Mishal Jaleel Akbar Khan, London

Why is it that when we use or hear the word ‘sacrifice,’ sometimes our mind goes in a direction which would invoke sympathy for the person using the word? At times we tend to think of sacrifice as something that someone had no choice but to ‘give up,’ so to speak, for reasons other than choice of their own. Think of the beauty of rewiring your brain to understand sacrifice from an Islamic point of view, which views it in the most positive of ways.

Close your eyes and envision a beautiful English garden. We all know what happens when winter comes around. As a result of lack of sunlight and weather which is naturally unfriendly to plants and flowers, we see flowers and the beautiful colours that spring and summer brings on diminish only to come back next spring ever more beautiful than the season prior!

Sacrifice should be thought of as a step ladder on the path to victory, each sacrifice being a step that provides us with the opportunity that leads us closer and closer to spiritual triumph, that is, righteousness. Sacrifice requires us to detach ourselves from something that means something to us, but detachment is a skill that is important to attain, as it helps us when it comes to achieving piety. While worldly possessions might provide us with temporary satisfaction, in the long-term, attachment to worldly possessions leads to suffering.

A study was done in 2016 at the School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences in Beijing in which six experiments were conducted to study whether participants had higher levels of serotonin following altruistic behaviours or non-altruistic (or self-serving) behaviours. The study showed that the participants who displayed altruism displayed higher serotonin levels and reported higher satisfaction in life.

It seems as though, as a species, we get satisfaction out of helping each other out. Isn’t that such a beautiful thing? In particular when seen with the perspective of a world where, at times, we see politicians or world leaders acting in a way which is a clear detriment to people. However, we can see that at an innate level, we are actually a species which derives immense happiness and satisfaction out of seeing each other happy. 

This gives me hope about the direction of the world. Even though certain events might happen which derail us from peace, unity, and harmony, it seems as though the general trend is towards positivity.

This does not come without practicing the values that we as Ahmadi Muslims are reminded of in our weekly Friday Sermons as given by His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, may Allah be his Helper. I’d like to leave you with a quote from the Promised Messiah (peace be on him) as given in  in Malfoozat, compilation of his discourses: ‘’When a man passes through trials and tribulations and he does so with patience, because God says that he should do so, then these trials and tribulations make him join the ranks of the angels.’’

May we all be granted opportunities where we may display how ready we are to sacrifice those material and immaterial things that we are attached to that will take us further on the path of righteousness.

Ameen.