THE SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SACRIFICE — Meaningful Deed

we express our readiness to slice off with a knife our egos if they become a hurdle in our journeying on God’s path. In another verse that mentions sacrifi ce the Quran says: Pray to your Lord and sacrifi ce to Him alone. THE QURAN 108: 2 In a sense, this verse speaks about two aspects of faith: one, humility and modesty, and the other, selfl essness and sacrifi ce. Prayer symbolizes humility, while slaughtering an animal symbolizes sacrifi ce. It is on these two fundamentals — humility and sacrifi ce — that the entire edifi ce of the faith stands. While it appears that the animals are being presented before God, in reality it is human beings who are presenting themselves before Him. It can, in a sense, be said that we should relate to God through humility and to God’s servants — our fellow beings — through sacrifi ce. God is Great, and we are small. God is the Giver, and we are recipients. God is the Master, and we are His slaves. In this sense, the only appropriate way to relate with God is through humility. Here, the excellence of the slave is to accept his insignifi cance before God. In this context, we accept our utter insignifi cance before Him and express our humility and complete surrender and obedience to Him. The act of sacrifi ce has much to do with our relations with fellow human beings. It is linked to morality and appropriate behaviour in society. The Quran tells us that when the Prophet Abraham wanted to sacrifi ce his son, Ismael, the latter said: O my father, do as you are commanded; and God willing, you will fi nd me steadfast. THE QURAN 37: 102 From this we learn that patient steadfastness or sabr is the underlying basis of sacrifi ce. Unless we become truly steadfast and able to persevere and patiently face things, we really won’t have made any sacrifi ce at all. In sacrifi cing an animal, we express our resolve to