Assalatu wassalamu alaika Ya Rasool Allah!
Assalatu wassalamu alaika Ya Habeeb Allah!
Assalatu wassalamu alaika Ya Sayyid al Awwalin wal Akhirin
Honorable Brothers and Sisters! Eid Mubarak to You All!
Praise and thanks be to our Lord Almighty who granted us such a joyful Eid.
Honorable Believers!
Our Lord Almighty says in the verse I have recited: “It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it is piety from you that reaches Him.” [1]
Our Prophet sacrificed his animals with the prayer in the hadith I have recited on an Eid like this one: “O Allah! These sacrificial animals are your blessings and they are for your countenance. Accept my sacrifice and my family’s and ummah’s sacrifices!” [2]
Brothers and Sisters!
We are once again having the peace and happiness of reaching Eid al-Adha, the days of joy and excitement, once again. Eid al-Adha brings us each year one of the five fundamental prayers in Islam, namely the ritual of hajj. It offers us the ritual of sacrifice as a means of getting closer to our Lord. The Eid reminds us again the loyalty of Ibrahim and the submission of Ismail. It brings once again the image of our Master Muhammad Mustapha’s (pbuh) faithfulness, generosity and his firm stand as a believer and his exemplary life right before our eyes.
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Recently, millions of our brothers and sisters have poured to the House of Allah, to Arafat for the ritual of hajj. They have renewed their agreement of faith with our Lord. We, as Muslims of the world, are going to sacrifice our animals in the name of Allah today. We will strengthen our belief in Tawheed and our sense of servitude.
With their white as snow ihrams, a symbol of purification from faults and sins, our brothers and sisters performing the hajj acknowledge with their most sincere prayers that there is no refuge but Allah. Our brothers and sisters from all corners of the world join in prayer at Kaaba with a common feeling. The sound of “Labbaik” fills the skies with all its sincerity. We too are going to depict today that what really matters is closeness to Allah, while we are sacrificing our animals.
Our brothers and sisters performing the hajj express in all steps of the hajj that one should not be the slave of his wants and desires and only piousness leads to salvation. We will demonstrate today with our sacrifices that we are ready to give up all our possessions on the path of Allah.
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Eid al-Adha is the Eid of peace, well-being, brotherhood, unity and solidarity. It is the Eid of those who set aside all differences and reached unity in abundance, those who know themselves and their Lord, those who contemplate and consider and those who submit themselves to their Lord with sincerity. It is the Eid of those who cleared their mind of evil, cleaned their heart from spiritual stains and those who refrain from all sins. It is the Eid of those who discipline their desires, those who hurt no living being and those who strive to be trustworthy. This is the Eid of those who dress in patience and praise, those who live a life in accordance with the reason and purpose of our existence. This is the Eid of those who keep our values alive; those who get close to the poor, lonely, orphan and desolate, and those who are the help to the helpless.
Brothers and Sisters!
Eids are times when we should get even closer to our Lord and each other. Eids are the days where feelings of unity and solidarity, sharing and helping are at their peak. Eids are the days where we should remember that everything is a trial in this journey of life where there are both happiness and sadness.
So come! Let us put a smile on the faces of our parents, our spouses and children, our brothers and sisters and our neighbors. Let us carry the joy of Eid to the lonely, desolate, poor, destitute and elderly. Let us mend and repair broken hearts with the blessings and beauties of the Eid. Let us end the resentments, hard feelings and conflicts today that put a shadow over our brotherhood and joy of Eid.
Let us not forget that each gift we give in this Eid will get us closer to our Lord’s countenance. The most beautiful gift we could give in this Eid is a sincere salutation from our hearts, our earnest prayers, and our smiles and visits.
Brothers and Sisters!
As I conclude the khutba, I wish a blessed Eid to our honorable nation, our people abroad, all our brothers and sisters in the region of our hearts and the realm of Islam. I ask our Lord Almighty for the acceptance of your sacrifices, the acceptance of the hajj of all our brothers and sisters, forgiveness of our sins and a happy Eid. I want to end this khutba with these verses that put the true Eids to words:
The heart finds it’s beloved, let it be this Eid!
The servant finds his sultan, let it be this Eid!
Gloom and sorrow be gone, curtain of the heart be lifted!
Written by: General Directorate of Religious Services
All sins be forgiven, let it be this Eid!
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[1] Al-Hajj, 22/37.
[2] Ibn Majah, Chapters on Sacrifices, 1; Abi Dawud, Kitab Al-Dahaya, 3-4.