Sikander Hashmi – Eid alAdha Message July 20 2021

Allah is the greatest.

Allah is the greatest. There is none worthy

of worship, but Allah.

Allah is the greatest.

Allah is the greatest and praise be to

Allah. My brothers and sisters, I urge you

to be fearfully conscious of Allah and to

continue improving your relationship

with him.

My brothers and sisters, we gather here on

this blessed day, this beautiful morning to celebrate

the great Eid of Eid al Adha.

Yesterday was the day of Arafah.

Pilgrims gathered in Arafah for the climax of

the Hajj in a gathering

which was smaller than most, but at least

it was bigger than the previous year. Alhamdulillahi

rabbilalameen.

Today my brothers and sisters, this day of

Eid is a day of celebration

and is just as blessed as it was

last year and every year before that. The

Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said

The greatest day in Allah's sight.

The greatest day in Allah's sight is the

day of sacrifice.

And the next day

of, the day of and next the day

of, which is or the day of, the

day of rest, which is the 11th of

the day when the pilgrims

finally get a chance to rest.

Rasulullah

also said that

That they are the days of eating and

drinking and remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So my brothers and sisters, regardless

of how limited our gatherings may be due

to the current circumstances

And we see improvements in the restrictions compared

to last year. And no matter which restrictions

we are still required to respect

and which we will continue to respect. Let

us celebrate

by eating and drinking,

of course that which is halal in moderation

and by remembering Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Allahu

Akbar Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Allahu

Akbar Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Wa Alhamd.

My brothers and sisters,

this morning we are here to worship and

thank Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala

at the end of the 10 most blessed

days of the year. And these are the

first 10 days of the month of Hajj

of the of the month of Dhul Hijjah.

And we are here to honor and remember

and to learn lessons

from our grandfather in faith. Prophet Sayedna Ibrahim

Alaihi Salam

and his son, Sayedna Islam.

Millions of people, millions of believers around the

world will be offering the sacrifice of an

animal as Sayedna Ibrahim alayhi salaam was instructed

to do in lieu of

sacrificing his son,

which is an act which was dear to

Allah

on these days, on these very special days,

and for which there is no substitute

and there is no equivalent.

My brothers and sisters, we learn from prophets

Ibrahim and Ismael Alaihi Salam.

The value of making sacrifices

for Allah

The reality is my brothers and sisters, the

life of this world

that you and I are living right now

is

temporary.

It is

temporary

in which we will never get everything that

we want. Let it be clear. Let us

understand clearly in the life of this world

which is temporary, we will never get everything

that we want,

and in this life nothing will be 100%

perfect 100% of the time. This is the

nature of this life and this is the

nature of this dunya.

Sacrifices

will need to be made.

Sacrifices

will need to be made either willingly

or unwillingly.

People make sacrifices for different things during the

course of their lives. But the best sacrifices

are are those that we make for Allah

Subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The prophet

said, verily you will never

you will

never you will never leave anything for the

sake of Allah of Allah Almighty.

Except that Allah will replace it with something

better. Let us understand and remember this clearly

especially for my young friends. You will never

leave anything

for the sake of Allah to please Allah

alone

except this is Allah's promise, except that Allah

will replace it with something better for you.

Everyday my brothers and sisters,

sincere believers

sacrifice

their wants, their desires,

their egos,

their comfort,

their wealth, their

time, their strength

for Allah's pleasure. This was the sunnah of

the prophets of Allah alayhi was salatu wa

salam. This is the way of our prior

predecessors

and even today we find people like this

who make sacrifices

only and only sincerely for the sake of

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And for each sincere sacrifice that you make,

you will

receive a great reward inshallah.

My friends, my brothers and sisters, we live

in a world today that encourages us to

follow our desires.

What are we encouraged to do? What are

children encouraged to do? To follow

desires,

To do and act as we feel. We

find messages. We are bombarded with messages like

follow your desires.

Do as you wish.

Be free.

These are messages that we are bombarded with.

But know my friends, my brothers and sisters,

that that is not the way of success.

Following your desires

and only doing what you please and what

you wish to do.

Without any consideration of what Allah

wants for us wants from us. This is

not the way to success.

The life of this world

is for submitting to our Lord. We are

Muslims. What does that mean? It means we

are submitters to what? To the guidance and

the decree and the will of Allah

By definition,

we are submitters to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.

So the life of this world is for

submitting to our Lord, not to our desires

so that we can achieve

true and ultimate and everlasting freedom

in the next life which is eternal.

This life is temporary so that we get

the permanent which is good in Jannah Insha'Allah

in the hereafter.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in the

Quran.

Have you seen those who have taken their

own desires as gods?

That is a thing that people take their

own desires, what they feel like doing as

their gods. Allah talks about this.

Then what happens? And so Allah

left them to stray, to go away knowingly

even though they had knowledge. Even though they

had knowledge

they go away.

Sealed their hearing and their hearts.

And Allah placed a cover on their sight

which

hearing and which heart and which sight is

being referred to here. It is the spiritual

hearing, it is the spiritual hearts and the

spiritual

sight which gets covered, which gets muted, which

gets

shut off and sealed when a person starts

following and taking their desires

as their Lord, as their God. And Allah

Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,

That who then can guide them after Allah?

Who can guide a person who takes their

own desires

as their Lord? After Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.

No one can. So bearing hardships my friends,

my brothers and sisters, during this worldly life

is a part of being a true Muslim.

Life is not going to be easy.

We learn this from the lives of all

the prophets of Allah

and the pious people of the past. May

Allah

protect us. May Allah make things easy for

us but know that while sacrifices and patience

will be required, they will not go unrewarded

In the end, it will all be worth

it. So never lose hope in the mercy

of Allah subhanahu wa

and always have good expectations of him. As

Allah the prophet

told us that Allah says

that I am as my servant expects of

me.

Allah said, I am as my servant expects

of me. So this life is short and

temporary and we live this life in the

best way possible in Allah submission, seeking his

pleasure so that we can have everlasting peace,

joy, and freedom in Jannah. Inshallah.

So my friends, my brothers and sisters,

stay strong.

Stand firm upon the truth and the deen

of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Be a beacon of kindness,

of hope, of positivity,

and guidance for all of those around you.

May Allah

always bless you and protect you and your

future generations. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive

us. May he grant us strength. May he

keep us united in this world. And especially

may he unite us in Jannah. In Jannah

for those.