Ed el Kabir

As Muslim Faithful in Nigeria make last minute preparations to celebrate the  Ed el Kabir, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke  stresses that  the essence of Ed el Kabir is to be grateful to God for inspiring Muslim Faithful to know the right from the wrong and for giving them the resistance against the incursion of Satan , who is always out to derail mankind from the path of righteousness.

Excerpts :

The essence of every celebration is for the comity of nations to be reminded of what brought about the event and the lessons learnt from it, in terms of values for the purpose of adoption to correct possible cases of anomalies or aberration.

Unfortunately, Nigerians are a particular specie of Homo Sapiens who easily forget the past to be able to build in the right way the present for a better future.

This year's Ed el Kabir celebration must be a turning point for our society to benefit immensely from its lessons. For example, the fabric of the home is broken in many respects , resulting  in our children and youth swimming in the ocean of sins and crimes,because of the erosion of societal values and norms.

The household of Prophet Ibrahim happened to be a perfect example of trust and memorandum of understanding. When the issue of barrenness was to be resolved, Sarah advised her husband to have a trial with their maid, whom she equally believed would receive the glory and grace of God, which became prophetic, with the birth of Isaac(Isiaka) through Haggar, after 14 years of  patient wait.

When the time was up to face the trial of a reneged promise, a ram was mercifully substituted for slaughtering in place of Ismail, while the grace of fertility was equally conferred on Sarah, who conceived and gave birth to Isaac through Ibrahim's fulfilled promise to God.

By implication, every home must be founded on the platform of trust and transparency, to be able to receive divine intervention, most especially in the times of trouble.

Another lesson is that we must establish good parenting for every home, which results in good child upbringing. This ensures  the products of good upbringing are  the future leaders for the purpose of sustainable development.

Besides this, the lessons of unbroken promises and oath of allegiance becomes prominent, most especially in the aspect of upholding ethical principles on justice dispensation and  related services.

Prophet Ibrahim's stand by his oath of allegiance to God led to his been the father of faith as well as the father of the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims all over the world. What an amazing news of immortality to the family.

During the celebration, animals such as rams or cows that would be slaughtered for the celebration must be free of diseases and blemish, to fulfill Quran  22 : 35, which states that people whose offering shall be accepted  are those with absolute belief in God without fear of future denial, people who are patient with high resistant to the distresses of life and those who do not deviate  from the righteous path of God.

They must be practicing Muslims  as must be evident  in observing Solat, besides this, they must be cheerful givers who live by the concept of philanthropy, before, during and after the Ed el Kabir.

The slaughtered ram must be shared into three, one part for  the orphanages, prison inmates and destitute, the second part for the needy around who ask for it, while the third part is consumed by families and friends.

The essence of this, lies on good parenting, proper child upbringing and the need for good neighborliness.

The underlying factor is the need to uphold holiness for Allah which  is the basis for performing the holy pilgrimage so as to attain the height of piety.

Take note, that religion as a school of faith building, driven by the curriculum of the scripture must get us aligned with our creator for the right inspirational energy to be endowed  in order that man would be able to creditably offer services with the necessary impact in governance through astute management and classical administration.

The foregoing are the import of Islam for all Muslims to imbibe in their day to day activities.

The essence of Ed el Kabir is to be grateful to God for inspiring us to know the right from the wrong and for giving us the resistance against the incursion of Satan , who is always out to derail mankind from the path of righteousness.

This is why the throwing of stones for three days always starts on Ed el Kabir day, so that the grace received by Prophet Ibrahim, his son, Ismail and his wife, Haggar is bestowed on the new Alhajis and Alhajas, to be able to shun evil and other forms of misdemeanor in their routine day to day activities after the holy pilgrimage and Ed el Kabir, to be able to live a just life and create a disciplined society with zero tolerance to corruption.

If we are able to heed the voice of God and His directives, the lessons of Ed el Kabir on the state of piety, to uphold faith, would easily be granted by God, the almighty  Allah.