This morning, I woke up to a joie de vivre of extraordinary magnitude. The pleasantly sacred breeze of the morning sent jolly vibes through my nerves. I found aroma of sacrifice, obedience, value of uterine relations and heavenly devotion spread abundantly across the length and breadth of the environs. I could vividly hear the chirping birds singing mellifluous hymns of TAWHEED (Oneness of God). I could behold swaying branches and foliage of flora prostrating before the Owner of the universe. The dulcet repetition of Takbeeri Tashreek reverberated the skies to proclaim the splendour of Allah (SWT). Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar… I saw the lofty mountain peaks silently chanting the Zikr of Allah (SWT). The fragrance of sacrifice scented my brain and heart with the spirit of divine oblation. Exemplary obedience, submission and subordination of Syedna Isma-eel (AS) made my blood effervescent; and the love for my parents reached to its pinnacle. The gaiety, fervour, celebrations, exuberance and joys of Iddul Azha filled my heart with festive aura and excitement. Reminisces of the famous sacrifice of father-son duo of Syedna Ibraheem (AS) and Syedna Isma-eel (AS) gave me goose bumps.
Prophet Ibraheem (AS) set a glorious example of divinely devotion and loyalty when he (AS) ran a sharp edged knife on the throat of his beloved son – Syedna Isma-eel (AS). It was not an ordinary gesture of mactation, but an unparalleled and unprecedented act of allegiance to Allah (SWT). Does this mean that Syedna Isma-eel (AS) was not dear to His father – Syedna Ibraheem (AS)? No, never! We can imagine the love of a father for his progeny whom Allah (SWT) blessed him with a son at the age of 90. Here, divine pleasure and alacrity is more important than anything else to Moomineen. The entire human history fails to produce such a similitude of absolute subordination, submission and subjugation to the will of Allah (SWT).
It was undoubtedly the meticulous attention and royal upbringing of Syedna Isma-eel (AS) by his father which incorporated and inculcated great virtues and traits in his son. Contemporary societies are craving for the virtuous and honest progeny, but hardly bother to give ample time to their children. We must take good care of our children and the different domains of their health viz physical, emotional, moral and spiritual. We should edify our children in the light of the great teachings and doctrines. The great benchmarks and standards set by our venerable ancestors are beacons of light for the entire humanity. But, alas! We have neglected and forgotten the precious tenets of our forefathers. Humanity can salvage and liberate itself from the clutches of mayhem and bedlam if it will imitate and replicate the life of our ancestors.
Syedna Isma-eel (AS) is the most perfect model for the human posterity till the day of resurrection. He (AS) proved an embodiment of obedience and patience in the entire course of history. Considering his father’s wish, the wish of His Lord, Syedna Isma-eel (AS) went two steps ahead of his father. Let the world teach its children the glaring doctrines adopted by Syedna Isma-eel (AS) to fulfill his father’s dream, when it is complaining about the disobedience and rebellious attitude of children. The outstanding gesticulation of parental deference and constancy touched the climax of set standards when Syedna Isma-eel (AS) asked his father to cover his eyes with a strip of cloth while running the dagger on his throat.
We must enable our children to go through the luminous and glorified characters of Syedna Isma-eel (AS). Ironically, we take pride in making our children read medicine, literature, technology, astronomy, aeronautics and economics which is not bad at all, but, we can’t afford to forget the life accounts of our heroes from the past who had taken humanity out of crisis. Prophets were descended to eradicate the malice of vices from human societies. None of the theories and idealogies of contemporary times can emancipate humanity from the cataclysm and catastrophe of moral corruption except the model of prophets like Ibraheem (AS) and Mohammadi Arabi (SAW).
Absolute surrender to the will of God exalted and elevated the already great stature of Syedna Ibraheem (AS). The philosophy behind his historic sacrifice is one of the guiding principles for entire humanity in general and Muslims in particular. Chaos and anarchy in contemporary societies is sure to end if the cherished ideals of Islam are adopted by one and all. Construction of old-age homes has sent shivers down the spine of every soulful and sensitive person, because old-age is indeed inevitably dreaded era of our lives. So, our children must be there to take our care. But, the children of present era have begun to abandon their parents, and it is a dangerous trend. The growing menace of disobedience to parents by their children is an ugly blot on our moral fabric.
(Author is a Teacher and Regular Columnist. He can be reached at [email protected])
