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Eidul Adha 2018 : Message from the President

Azher QuaderAzher Quader

 

Thanks to the the lively controversy between the moon sighters of America and the moon sighters of Arabia we have two days of Eid ul Adha to celebrate here in Chicago. With all the wonderful advances in technology and communications the world has made, it is indeed impressive that we insist on remaining frozen in time and tradition, refusing to bow down to either change or circumstances. But Chicago Muslims need not complain. This kind of debate provides for greater choices and greater flexibility for those of us who are ordinarily caught in tight work schedules. A two-day Eid  in mid week is certainly a welcome relief.

We have much to celebrate this Eid. A new administration comes to power in Pakistan, one of the most populous Muslim countries in the world. Prime Minister Imran Khan promises to reshape his country in the image of the Prophet’s Medina State. With a bold commitment to personal integrity, austerity, compassion and justice, if he succeeds in reversing the fortunes of his native land,  he would indeed have created the utopia dreamt by Allama Iqbal, the philosopher poet who gave birth to the idea for a homeland for Indian Muslims and and Mohammed Ali Jinnah who fought for and  founded the country. But that utopian welfare state he promises to create, will demand enormous support and sacrifices from  the people who have been steeped for decades in lives of indulgence and comfort, of indifference to the struggles and the sufferings of the poor and destitute existing invisibly among them.

Closer to home we celebrate the remarkable victory  the first Muslim American congresswoman, Rashida Tlaib, born to Palestinian immigrants,  going to Washington from Michigan, to make the Muslim voice heard in the nation’s capital. A voice for reason, for justice and for unity in a country torn apart by the deliberate divisions of race and religion. She too has her work cut out, as she confronts the politics of hate and prejudice and tries to seek common ground among people who often live in their own alternate realities.

These are trying times for all. Eid gives us an opportunity to pause and reflect. For after all every ritual in Islam has meaning and purpose. For Eid ul Adha there is the timeless story of Syedina Ibrahim (PBUH) with the message of submission and sacrifice. There is the soul stirring advice of our beloved Prophet (PBUH) enshrined in the last sermon that he delivered from Mount Arafat, that lays down the concept of the brotherhood of man, the unity of the ummah and  the foundations of human relations, ranging from humility to humanity, from racial parity to gender equity.

These are powerful stories that need repeating even as we indulge ourselves in the celebration of the moment, inclining to be casual and not wanting to be serious. They give us glimpses of men with great spiritual strength and vision, in whose words and deeds we may yet discover, if we cared to look in, the remedy for all our present woes. In their lives we can find an uncompromising submission to His will that demands sacrifice above self, endurance above envy, compassion above hate. In their example we can see the power of patience, the magic of mercy and the capacity of the human soul to be victorious through faith and determination. Their stories need to be recounted because they are so relevant for us today.

As we struggle today to fight discrimination, media bias, the phantoms of prejudice and Trumpian  paranoia, we may find these tools of much help. By reflecting upon the brutality of Taif in his life we may find the strength to overcome the anger and anguish of Islamophobia in our world. By remembering the sacrifices of Badr and Uhud, we may find reason to sacrifice a lot more than money and matter in the defense of His causes. By remembering the Treaty of Hudaibiya we may find clues to the wisdom of making agreements with those that disagree with us, by relinquishing our favored positions of the present, in order to win the promise and possibilities of the future. In revisiting his bloodless conquest of Mecca and in his declaration of a general amnesty for the entire enemy, there is a powerful lesson for us to learn of the enormous embrace of forgiveness and its capacity to heal. Finally from his return to Medina after the conquest of Mecca, is perhaps the most noteworthy lesson for those of us who left our native lands either by choice or force, and long to return to them, to recognize that love of land and attachment to  even the holiest of hallowed grounds cannot be as endearing  or special as the relationship to a community of believers.

These and numerous more timeless lessons of our history are as relevant today in our daily lives as they have been to many other generations of Muslims before us. The choice is ours to make to learn from them if we may.  It is up to us to look in the mirror and see who we really are. It is only when we decide to live our lives with purpose, letting go of vanity and ego, embracing humility and humanity, that the image in the mirror will become pleasing to the beholder. Too many of us in America have fallen prey to a life of material comforts and trivial pursuits. We live here but exist in other worlds and rarely connect with the societal issues that surround us. We were once the champions of social justice, the learned and the educated, the repositories of compassion, the healers of the ailing, the benefactors of the poor and the defenders of the oppressed. Today we are the illiterate, the ailing, the poor and the oppressed. If we are to change our destiny we will have to go beyond the superficial to the substantive and travel beyond the debates of hilal and halal.

We are all given one life to live. The day we were born the dice was cast. How well we play this game is all a matter of the choices we make. It is never too late to make better choices. Our quest for glory that was once our lot can only be realized if we choose to start.

In just a few days our families and friends will be returning from their personal journeys to Mecca. A journey that some say can transform the human soul. As we joyfully wait to embrace them when they return, let us pray that the blessings they bring will transform our lives too.

Eid Mubarak!

August 21, 2018

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