Jumuah Khutbah | Shaykh Okasha Kameny

Jumuah Khutbah: The Foundation of Sacrifice

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Come to Prayer. Come to Prayer. Come to success. Come to success. Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all people, King of all people, God of all people. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. There is no partner but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Allah is the greatest. There is no god but Allah. Allah is the greatest. All praise is due to Allah. All praise is due to Allah. Glory be to Allah, the Most High. Allah is the greatest. All praise is due to Allah.

Truly the greatest is almighty Allah, truly the greatest is almighty Allah and no one is greater than almighty Allah.

The Days of Hajj and Sacrifice

Today is the day of النفر الأول (an-nafr al-awwal), tomorrow is the day of النفر الثاني (an-nafr ath-thani), meaning hajj could end either today or tomorrow and the last day of Eid al-Adha is tomorrow. So today is the day of النفر الأول (an-nafr al-awwal), tomorrow is the day of النفر الثاني (an-nafr ath-thani).

Yesterday was the day of القر (al-qarr), the day before was the day of النحر (an-nahr) and the day before يوم النحر (yawm an-nahr) was the day of عرفة (Arafah) and before Arafah came the day of التروية (at-tarwiyah). All these days are called by Allah the well-known and the numbered days. They are momentous days blessed by almighty Allah to indicate the submission and the surrender of the best person ever walked on the face of this earth, Ibrahim and Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, laying the foundation of sacrifice.

Almighty says, people should magnify Allah and mention the names of almighty Allah over what he has blessed them with when it comes to the cattle or the sacrificial animals. And he also said in Surah al-Baqarah chapter 2 verse 203, and mentioned the name of Allah in the well-specific known days and this day the day of النفر الأول (an-nafr al-awwal) is one of the days the best act of worship in these days, the day of Eid, yesterday, today and tomorrow, the best act of worship is to sacrifice qurbani for almighty Allah for his own sake. And the next best act of worship is takbeer, الله أكبر، الله أكبر، الله أكبر، الله أكبر، الله أكبر، الله أكبر.

The Foundation of Sacrifice: Ibrahim's Example

Almighty Allah made those days momentous days and blessed days so that we are reminded about the sacrifice of our father Ibrahim, the one who laid the bricks and the foundation of sacrifice was our father Ibrahim.

Allah says, indeed you have the best model and pattern of example in Ibrahim and not only Ibrahim but also those who were with him.

So on this blessed minbar O عباد الله (servants of Allah) we will examine and bring the foundation of sacrifice and its own sequence that was laid by our father Ibrahim and his son Ismail along with Ismail's mother Hajar, عليها من الله الرحمة وعلى نبيينا وعلى إبراهيم وإسماعيل صلوات من الله والرحمة. They laid the foundation of sacrifice and the sequence of sacrifice came from them and our Lord Almighty he said to our Prophet to follow their own examples, to follow the example of his father.

Ibrahim's Initial Sacrifice: Migration to Allah

What was their sacrifice O عباد الله? When Ibrahim عليه السلام invited his own people to almighty Allah, asking them to worship almighty Allah and not to associate partners with Allah, his own people threatened him and then he turned to his father hoping to find some affection, some paternal affection and also compassion in his own father. But his father turned him down and even warned him, if you do not quit what you are upon of calling to almighty Allah alone, I will for surely stone you and forsake me for a long while. I don't want you to be in my company.

So when he was threatened by his own people along with his own father's threat that he would stone Ibrahim to death, that's when Ibrahim عليه الصلاة والسلام realized that those people they are upon their own ancestral tradition that they will never give up. So they are upon their own ancestral falsehood and they will never give up. That's when he promised to Allah and said, in Surah As-Saffat ayah 99:

Prophet Ibrahim said, I'm migrating to almighty Allah physically, spiritually, emotionally. I'm migrating to almighty Allah, per adventure he will guide me. Undoubtedly he will guide me.

The Prayer for a Righteous Child

And then he made dua realizing that his family are not with him, his family is not with him, his father is against him, the entire family of Ibrahim went against him. So since he's making hijrah to almighty, he made dua. Oh Allah, grant me a righteous child who will also carry the banner, who will carry the banner of this deen, the banner of my faith. Grant me a righteous child.

So here is a lesson to all of us, when you make dua, you do not assign a gender to almighty Allah. Bless me with a baby boy or grant me a baby that will be baby girl. We do not assign to almighty. Oh Allah, grant me a righteous child and leave it with almighty Allah. Just like Maryam عليها الصلاة والسلام did, here the manifestation of it came from Ibrahim. Grant me a righteous child.

Almighty Allah responded to his call by saying, we then granted him with a forbearing child, the child that will forbear in the deen and be patient regardless of what happens. If it is on the course of Allah, he remains upon the command of Allah. When almighty Allah granted him this child, according to Genesis 16:16, he was 86 years old. Imagine an elderly individual making dua in his old age for a child. When almighty Allah granted him that child and Ismail was the only then child given.

The Ultimate Test: The Command to Sacrifice

When that child passes through the ages and reaches the ages or years of discretion, it's when almighty Allah tested Ibrahim. That very child and the only child whom we've blessed you with, we are commanding you. We are commanding you through رؤيا (ru'iyah), meaning through divine vision, through dream and the dream of prophets must be carried and brought into fruition. So he must follow the dream that he had. In his dream, almighty Allah commanded him to slaughter that very child that he prayed for and was granted in his own old age.

So almighty سبحانه وتعالى asked Ibrahim to slaughter him. So almighty Allah said to Ibrahim, at this point that your child has reached the age of puberty and he is now at the age to support you physically, emotionally and spiritually, we are commanding you to slaughter him.

And Prophet Ibrahim did not flinch. Neither did he fluctuate or hesitate. He did not. He wanted to carry the command of Allah for slaughtering his own son and the only child. I want you to visually encapsulate the following. Simply visualize this. Even your child who is disobedient, defiant and undutiful to you, will your heart actually allow you to slaughter that child of yours that is not obedient? Not even the obedient one. The disobedient one, your heart will not go to do that. But this obedient child and the only son, he is being commanded to slaughter him.

The Journey to Sacrifice

So he, Ibrahim, told Prophet Ismail that meaning come along with me. So that we will sacrifice and present to almighty Allah our own offering. On the way with Prophet Ibrahim, Ismail is following the father. For both of them to slaughter what almighty Allah asked Ibrahim to slaughter. But at that point, Ismail did not know who is the sacrificial or who is the sacrificial offering. Who will be offered? He did not know.

So he asked the father, O father, where is the Qurbani that you will sacrifice to almighty? Or where is your Qurbani? I cannot see the sacrificial animal. He look to his right, no animal. To his left, no animal. He twist, no animal. In front, no. O father, where is the Qurbani?

Then the father broke the news to the son, Ismail, by saying, I have seen in my dream that almighty Allah is asking me to slaughter you. So what is your take on that? Tell me what you see. Tell me what will be your take on that?

That's when the son, the obedient child said to his father, you will find me by Allah's permission among those who will forbear and be patient in the cause of almighty.

Shaytan's Attempts to Interfere

That's when Shaytan realized, no, the father is intending to slaughter the son and the son also is listening. Then Shaytan dashed to Ibrahim and said to Ibrahim O Ibrahim, where are you heading? And what is your intention? Are you going to sacrifice your own child? The one who appeared to you in your dream and commanded you to slaughter your child, it's not Allah, instead it's Shaytan. Thus do not obey him and preserve your own child.

Shaytan realized that no, Ibrahim will not listen to him because he said to Shaytan, be gone you the cursed one. And then Ibrahim picked up seven hasayat, seven pebbles and started throwing and casting them against Shaytan at a place called Mina where the hajjaj locate right now. Millions of Muslims at this very moment, they are at Mina and Mina is six miles north to Mecca where the hajjaj stayed yesterday and they are still in Mina today and will be there tomorrow. So three days they will remain in Mina to do the same thing that our father Ibrahim did. He threw and casted Iblis and Shaytan with seven hasayat, seven pebbles. And then after the seventh, Shaytan disappeared at that site of Jammurah.

Shaytan when he disappeared, did he give up? He did not give up. He rapidly dashed to the son Ismail and whispered into Ismail's ears using the language of doubt saying to him, Do you know what your father wants from you? He intends to slaughter you. So do not allow that to happen.

Ismail said to Shaytan, If this is the command of Allah, then me and my father are a sacrifice for the command of Allah. And if this is the command of my father, then you are not more merciful to me than my father.

Ismail said to Shaytan, If this vision, if this divine vision and this act that my father is about to bring into fruition and what he is about to do by slaughtering me, if this decision merely is from my father, Ibrahim, you are not more compassionate to me than my father. But if this command is from Allah, then both my father and I are subjective. And also in obedience to support and surrender the command of almighty Allah.

That's what Ismail, the obedient child, and listen to it one more time. If the command is from my father, you are not more compassionate to me than my father. But if the command is from Allah, then both my father and I are subjective and also in compliance with the command of almighty Allah.

Lessons for Today's Youth

Where are the young stars? And where are the youth to listen to the statement of a youth just like them in their relationship with their own father? Not like a child of today. And don't be like that. The father tells you, sit. No, father, I understand better. The father asks you, come. No, I have some degrees that you did not even acquire in your life. The mother is calling her daughter. The daughter thinks that she knows better. Don't act like that, my dear youth. Be like Ismail.

If this is Allah's command, then both my father and I are in compliance. But if this decision is from my father, Ibrahim, he is more compassionate towards me than you, Iblis, Shaytan.

Hajar's Response: The Complete Family Submission

When he did not find his own way to penetrate through Ismail, he then went to our mother Hajar, the mother of Ismail, trying to find a loophole that peradventure he will find some motherly compassion so that she will go through that to stop the act of sacrifice. He said to our mother Hajar, O mother of Ismail, don't you know what Ibrahim intends to do with your own son? He intends to slaughter him. So reach out to stop him before he slaughters your own child.

She then replied by saying, Then all of us, myself, meaning Ibrahim and my son, along with I, we are all in submission to the commands of almighty Allah.

Respected audience, wherever you are, have you heard the statement of the father, Ibrahim, and the compliance of the son, Ismail, and the wife along? This is how the household is supposed to be.

The Lesson of Sacrifice from Ibrahim and Ismail

Nobody should penetrate your home, to bring doubt to the husband, to begin doubting his wife, or to the wife begin doubting and acting up against their own husband, or messing up the household because of what she heard, or a child being disobedient and defiant towards his own parents because he or she thinks that they know better.

This is the frequency of sacrifice. If you believe in Allah, you live for almighty Allah, what you desire. Almighty Allah wants us, not because of the meat. He asked us to sacrifice when both Ibrahim and Ismail complied to the commands of Allah.

The Story of Ibrahim and Ismail's Sacrifice

When prophet Ibrahim brought Ismail on his side to slaughter him, there and thereupon, the son Ismail looked at his own father Ibrahim. Ismail said to Ibrahim, meaning fasten and tie and bind me strongly so that I will not wave or shake while you slaughtering me. And also gather your clothes so upon slaughtering me, my mother will not see the blood and then she will grieve extra. And extend my salam to my mother and tell her that I'm saying salam before you slaughter me.

That's when Ibrahim hugged his son Ismail and started weeping that you are the dutiful child who helps me to bring about the command of almighty Allah.

When he intended to slaughter him, it is said that the blade popped back up and then the blade did not go through. The son asked the father, why are you not carrying the command, oh father? He said the blade is not going through. He said if it's not going through according to Mujahid, then you don't have to actually cut my throat, just stab me with it so that the command of Allah will come to pass.

That's when Ibrahim wept. That's when Ibrahim was crying, hugging his son, making dua, alhamdulillah, for giving me a child that helps me in carrying the commands of Allah. And a wife who helps me in carrying the commands of almighty Allah.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Ibadallah, the only child, the only son, and at the age of helping the father. And the father is over 100 years, nobody else to help him, but he was willing to sacrifice him for almighty Allah's command.

So, in the same manner, or in the same breath, maybe the only job that you have, that is from haram source, you are to give it for almighty Allah, and sacrifice that very job that you know is haram, almighty Allah will substitute for you after sacrifice. Maybe this is the route you want to take to have a better life, but Allah doesn't want that. You are to change the route and follow the route of almighty Allah.

When both the father, the son, and the wife came and collaborated in carrying the command of almighty Allah, Allah made them the pillar and also the foundation of sacrifice frequency. Until today, almighty Allah made all the prophets to be the descendants of Ibrahim.

الله أكبر، الله أكبر، الله أكبر، الله أكبر، الله أكبر، ولله الحمد. الله أكبر، الله أكبر، ولله الحمد كثيراً

Allah's Reward for True Sacrifice

In closing today's khutbah, talking about sacrifice, dear brothers and dear sisters, this is where the sacrifice came from. This is where the slaughtering came from. Someone slaughtered or was about to slaughter his child, then almighty Allah rescued the child and made him an example to the world and for the world.

The same way we saved Ismail and honored his father and his mother Hajar and Ibrahim, in the same manner, those who give up their own whims and desires and yield to my command and prefer what I ask of them over what they want of their own whims and desires, I will reward them extra.

The Meaning of Eid al-Adha

So dear brothers, as we conclude, this is what Eid al-Adha teaches us. Eid al-Adha teaches us sacrifice. That is the sacrifice that Allah wants from you as you slaughter or you make the dhikr, الله أكبر.

And since the time is up, remember that whatever that you learn from that sacrifice of Ibrahim, a time will come in your life, Allah will require something that is dear to you to see whether you will prefer Allah's command over your own whims and desire or not. Whether you are the father, the mother, the son, the wife, the daughter or the leader. And this is the sacrifice when it's time and it's due, not to flinch but to give. Then almighty Allah will be with you.

Du'a for Our Ummah

We ask almighty Allah to make the sacrifice of our families in Gaza like the sacrifice of Ibrahim. May he make the sacrifice of our brothers and sisters in Gaza like the sacrifice of our Ibrahim. And also the sacrifice of our families, brothers and sisters in Sudan, Burma, Philippines, Kashmir, Somalia, Mali, everywhere around the world where Muslims and the people that have been prejudicedly overpowered, we ask you oh Allah to shed upon them your own mercy.

After Salah we have a janazah prayer. There will be janazah prayer right after Salah. Jazakum Allah Khair after Salah.