Sacrifice

Out of the many things in life, we tend to view religion as something that is beneficial for us. It may give us a sense of community, inner peace, a framework of morality and purpose to life. And indeed religion fills those roles. However, it would be naive to say that all that is needed to see the fruits of religion is faith alone.

In Islam, we are commanded to perform obligatory actions and recommended to carry out voluntary ones, discouraged from disliked actions and forbidden from sinful ones. But the quality and quantity of our ibadah and our distance from that which is forbidden is what distinguishes the different levels of iman amongst Mankind. Indeed, it is that which tests a person's sincerity towards Allah. Does a Muslim put faith in his religion just because it makes him feel good, or is it because he wants to seek Allah's pleasure?

When we think of sacrifice, we may think of charity, umrah / hajj, seeking knowledge or, perhaps one of the biggest lifestyle changes one may make: marriage. All of these actions requires sacrificing resources most valued to Man: time, money and energy. But Islam requires many sacrifices from us on a daily basis as well. Our 5 daily prayers require a slice of our time at regular intervals of the day. Even though they may be simple to perform, it requires planning especially if we are busy outside and not in the comfort of our homes. In fact, many of us go to the extent that we revolve our daily plans around prayer, which is what Allah may have intended anyway.

But even more than that, a person of taqwa makes sacrifices (for the sake of Allah) in his or her every breath. In essence, sacrifice is jihad. Jihad is to struggle, or to fight against any and every desire for the sake of Allah. Whether it is in forbidding evil (such as resisting our desire to partake in sinful desires and giving up sinful habits) or enjoining good (such as extending our hand in charity and something simple as getting up to take wudu for prayer), jihad is embedded in a Muslim's daily life. Knowing that, we should be more conscious of our decisions in life, rather then just "going with the flow", or giving in to our desires without second thought.

Ramadan

I am currently writing this in the month of Ramadan. Unlike other ibadah where we may have the luxury to decide what and when we want to perform, Ramadan is different as it comes once a year, every year. All around the world, Muslims sacrifice much during this month. Fasting all day, the amount of physical activities we can practically perform becomes limited. To maximise the benefits of this holy month, many of us also read more Qur'an, and pray extra prayers at night. We wake up before dawn to have some food for our sahur, to follow the sunnah and to fill our bellies a little for the long day ahead.

While health experts laud the health benefits of fasting, they do not shy from dishing out health advisories as well. And honestly speaking, do we follow them? I don't think so. More likely than not, we indulge on feasts during iftar and sahur on fatty, high-calorie and high-sugar foods. Even if we were to keep it moderate, we may lose out on some nutrients and minerals. Unless one is a disciplined individual, we might miss the mark on the health benefits of fasting. So yes, we may be a little dehydrated and nutritionally deficient. We may be a little more lethargic and sleep deprived. But who cares? We fast for the sake of Allah alone. That's not to say just because we do it for Allah mean that we should live carelessly - we should still try our best to take care of our bodies. Anyway, many of us eat too little or too much to obtain desirable body shapes, or just because we love to eat, and many of us deprive ourselves of essential nocturnal sleep because of school, work, or just because we're bingeing on the latest show or video game. Therefore, Muslims who fear some slight deficiency in their health due to Ramadan should refrain from holding back their ibadah as it is the month to strive the best as we can spiritually - especially if we haven't been doing much for the other 11 months. Coming out of this month feeling healthier shouldn't be our primary goal in the first place.

Everyone should reconsider what they view as a "hassle" in religion. Because we sacrifice much our lives doing incidental or less-than-important things anyway. Yes, having a job to sustain ourselves, or a hobby to keep our minds healthy may seem important, but none of them can be compared to the importance of religion. For religion is the ultimate goal of one's life, and it determines the state of our affairs in the everlasting Hereafter. I'm not saying we all need to be "super pious". Rather we should just try to our best, and maybe strive for a little more. If we are able to make sacrifices for things of the dunya, why are we not able to do it for Allah? We should rejoice whenever our heart feels heavy to perform something for the sake of Allah for that is a sign that we are fighting our nafs; a sacrifice to prove our love to Him, and inshaAllah a sign of a greater reward to come (from Him).

May Allah make it easy for us to surrender to Him, amin.

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