Did You Sacrifice Your Son Today?

April 13, 2016 by Ali Asadullah

Continued from Page 1

Just as Ibrahim plodded along, placing one dusty foot in front of the other, month after month, year after year, we too plod along. We seek to please Allah through faith, good works, and eschewing evil. We maintain faith in Allah's promise that sacrifice in this life elevates us in the next, and our sacrifices don't have to be grand gestures.

After all, Allah asked from prophets that which he does not ask from us. Mohammed was prescribed lengthy night prayers that would break most of us. Esa (Jesus) was asked to confront the religious and political establishment of his day and to risk execution as a result. Moses was asked to speak truth to Pharaoh, who was, at that time, considered a god in his culture. And Ibrahim was asked to sacrifice his son.

We are asked to do none of that. For us, we are challenged, minute by minute, to comport ourselves in a manner consistent with our faith. We are asked to sacrifice food in favor of fasting; to trade a television show for prayer; to sacrifice money in our pockets in favor of charity; to trade creature comforts for the Spartan accommodations found during Hajj; and in our daily lives to sacrifice self-centeredness and self-aggrandizement in favor of the Golden Rule.

So, have you sacrificed your son today? No, you haven't, and that is okay.

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4/13/2016 4:00:00 AM

Religion and Sacrifice

Public Square

Abraham

Atonement

Reconciliation

Sacred Texts

Sacrifice

Islam

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