Monday, January 09, 2006
Sacrifice, (or, A Sheep in the Offing)
Unable to process anything intelligible, I will now attempt to babble 
about Eid al-Adha, (pronounced, "ay-EED al ADD-hah) the Muslim celebration which begins tomorrow, and in which we are supposed to eat a lot of meat...mainly sheep, from what I understand from my husband. I don't know if this celebration's traditions change according to culture, but in Egypt, they eat sheep. In fact, I've seen cute little animated commercials about Eid al-Adha with fluffy sheep bouncing happily with children on a beautiful green hill. It is ironic to me that those very same fluffy, happy, little sheepies will be slaughtered ruthlessly in the streets, blood puddles everywhere, and baked, broiled, fried, and shish-kebabed for feast day.
However, this Eid is not completely about the sheep. It is about the prophet Abraham and his son Isaac. If you are Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, you know the story about the sacrifice. If not, have patience while I explain. Abraham was the father of Isaac and he loved Isaac more than any other child. One day, God spoke to Abraham and told him to take Isaac up to a mountain and sacrifice Isaac to him. This was, as one might imagine, a very difficult thing to do. (I don't think I could have done it!) Abraham, however, was as faithful to God as one could possibly be--after all, he was a prophet. When the got to the mountain, Abraham built an altar upon which he placed his son. He pulled out his knife ready to slit the boy's throat, as one might slaughter a sheep, when God said, "Stop. I was just testing your faith. Kill the sheep over in the bush instead." There was a ram caught in a bush near them, and they freed the sheep and slaughtered it, offering it up as a sacrifice of thanks for God's goodness.
There is an interesting article at Islam Online which explains the Eid a lot better than I can. Actually, if you do a search about it, you will find many such interesting articles, and you may even learn a thing or two about Muslims.
It is interesting to think about what we might be able to sacrifice for the sake of God. Could I sacrifice one of my beautiful children? I don't know. Could I sacrifice using bad words, and replacing them, instead, with positive affirmations? Probably. Could I sacrifice coffee? Doubt it. It is a question that needs not only to be pondered by each human mind, but acted upon in some way. Even the smallest sacrifices done for the sake of God are given great weight. God honors them all.
At any rate, tomorrow, we will be remembering Abraham and Isaac's sacrifice, pondering our own faith and eating sheep. Eid Mubarak to all.
about Eid al-Adha, (pronounced, "ay-EED al ADD-hah) the Muslim celebration which begins tomorrow, and in which we are supposed to eat a lot of meat...mainly sheep, from what I understand from my husband. I don't know if this celebration's traditions change according to culture, but in Egypt, they eat sheep. In fact, I've seen cute little animated commercials about Eid al-Adha with fluffy sheep bouncing happily with children on a beautiful green hill. It is ironic to me that those very same fluffy, happy, little sheepies will be slaughtered ruthlessly in the streets, blood puddles everywhere, and baked, broiled, fried, and shish-kebabed for feast day. However, this Eid is not completely about the sheep. It is about the prophet Abraham and his son Isaac. If you are Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, you know the story about the sacrifice. If not, have patience while I explain. Abraham was the father of Isaac and he loved Isaac more than any other child. One day, God spoke to Abraham and told him to take Isaac up to a mountain and sacrifice Isaac to him. This was, as one might imagine, a very difficult thing to do. (I don't think I could have done it!) Abraham, however, was as faithful to God as one could possibly be--after all, he was a prophet. When the got to the mountain, Abraham built an altar upon which he placed his son. He pulled out his knife ready to slit the boy's throat, as one might slaughter a sheep, when God said, "Stop. I was just testing your faith. Kill the sheep over in the bush instead." There was a ram caught in a bush near them, and they freed the sheep and slaughtered it, offering it up as a sacrifice of thanks for God's goodness.
There is an interesting article at Islam Online which explains the Eid a lot better than I can. Actually, if you do a search about it, you will find many such interesting articles, and you may even learn a thing or two about Muslims.
It is interesting to think about what we might be able to sacrifice for the sake of God. Could I sacrifice one of my beautiful children? I don't know. Could I sacrifice using bad words, and replacing them, instead, with positive affirmations? Probably. Could I sacrifice coffee? Doubt it. It is a question that needs not only to be pondered by each human mind, but acted upon in some way. Even the smallest sacrifices done for the sake of God are given great weight. God honors them all.
At any rate, tomorrow, we will be remembering Abraham and Isaac's sacrifice, pondering our own faith and eating sheep. Eid Mubarak to all.
