The Courage to Be Alone: Ibrahim's Legacy

The Courage to Be Alone: Ibrahim's Legacy

Three Uncomfortable Truths About the Sacrifice of Ibrahim

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. O ye who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except as Muslims. O my Lord, open my heart and ease my affair, and release the knot from my tongue, so that my speech may be understood. And make me a minister among the people of my faith, O Lord of the worlds.

Before I start today's khutbah — which is on the topic of the three uncomfortable truths about the sacrifice of Ibrahim, peace be upon him — I'll tell you why I said "uncomfortable": because the way we perceive things in modern society will make this really uncomfortable.

The Blessing of the First Ten Days of Dhul Hijjah

But before that, I just want to remind you of what Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, reminded us — narrated by Imam Bukhari — about these ten days, and the potential of changing our life in these ten days. As Rasulullah, peace be upon him, says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 969)

That the most beloved days, in terms of doing good deeds, are these ten days, in the sight of Allah. May Allah give us all the ability to have life-changing deeds.

And by the way, please do not reduce good deeds to the recitation of the Qur'an and Tasbihat. That is indeed a good deed, but expand the definition of good deeds. Saying "I'm sorry" to someone whom you have hurt is also a good deed. When you come into a cold, icy masjid and have a smiling face, that is also a good deed. Reconciling a broken relationship in the masjid and in the community is also a good deed. So whatever you do for the sake of Allah, you will get multiple rewards in these ten days, because it will be beloved to Allah.

Fasting on the Day of Arafah

And one more reminder before we start today's topic: fasting on the Day of Arafah, which is Thursday. Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1162)

Fasting on the Day of Arafah will expiate two years of sins — one previous year and one upcoming year. May Allah forgive all of our shortcomings.

Three Uncomfortable Lessons from the Sacrifice of Ibrahim

If you look at the Qur'an, it doesn't only mention the one sacrifice we remember at the time of Eid al-Adha — slaughtering an animal. Rather, whenever you see the discussion of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, again and again Allah is mentioning that Ibrahim and the entire family were left with two options: either pick Allah, or pick their desires. And every time, Ibrahim and the family picked Allah, and they slaughtered their desires. They slaughtered the feelings that took them away — or had the potential of taking them away — from Allah.

I summarize that into three potentially uncomfortable truths about the sacrifice of Ibrahim, peace be upon him. And you will understand why I call them uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable Truth #1: The Social and Political Sacrifice — Challenge the Idols of Your Time

Starting from his young age, the first sacrifice was the social and political sacrifice. Ibrahim, peace be upon him, did not grow up in the house of a Mufti and Sheikh of Islam. Ibrahim was actually raised in the house of Azar, an idol manufacturer. He was raised in an environment that was not conducive for his spirituality — not in an environment of scholars and Muftis — but in a very un-Islamic, ungodly environment.

This is very relevant to all of us Muslims in America — if you know what I'm talking about. But immediately, he challenged the social norms and family norms so much so that he challenged the idols of his time. And in Surah Al-Anbiya we read that he would destroy the idols. Pay attention — in modern society, what are the consequences if you destroy the idols of your time? Once you challenge the idols of your time, you will be challenged.

Immediately the people came back and they said:

"Ibrahim, did you do this to our idols?" He was cancelled immediately — socially, politically, physically, he was abused. They decided to throw him into fire, but the rest of the history we know: Allah ordered the fire, and the fire could not burn him.

What are we learning? The first lesson — and this is uncomfortable — the sunnah of Ibrahim, my brothers and sisters at Valley Ranch Masjid, the sunnah of Ibrahim is to challenge the idols of your time. Unfortunately, we have reduced the sunnah of Ibrahim just to slaughtering an animal. That is a sunnah. But in a holistic way, one of the sunnah which Allah tells us to learn from Ibrahim is to challenge the idols of your time.

Today, these idols are not made of stone — like Rasulullah's time, when Lat, Uzza, and Manat were the names of idols made of stone. But for us, we need to recognize what is taking our loyalty and trying to compete with Allah — that has the potential of becoming an idol, and it needs to be challenged. Because my loyalty, my sincerity, must be for Allah alone.

As the famous poet Allama Iqbal said: if you really want to follow the sunnah of Ibrahim, you have to challenge the idols of your time. These idols in our time may have different names — idols of oppression, idols of zulm, idols of money, idols of careers. The metaphysical idols we must challenge are the idols of secularism and liberalism. Whichever takes loyalty away from Allah and asks you to give loyalty to it instead — that has the potential of becoming an idol.

Rasulullah, peace be upon him, himself said that money can be your idol — عَبْدُ الدِّينَارِ وَعَبْدُ الدِّرْهَمِ — in one of the hadith.

May Allah give us the ability to recognize the idols of our time, and then to challenge those idols, so that we can reflect real Tawheed — the Oneness of Allah. Because this is the way of Ibrahim. Whoever departs from the method of Ibrahim is not intelligent. May Allah make us intelligent. Ameen Ya Rabb.

The first uncomfortable truth about the sacrifice of Ibrahim is to identify the idols of your time and to challenge them. Don't become ritualistic. See what is stopping you and competing with Allah for your obedience. That is the idol that needs to be challenged.

Uncomfortable Truth #2: The Sacrifice of the Beloved Family — Gender Solidarity, Not Gender Wars

The second sacrifice is the sacrifice of beloved family. At an old age, Allah blessed Ibrahim with a son, Ismail, through his wife Hajar. May Allah bless them all. Ameen Ya Rabb.

Then Allah commanded him — after he was blessed with Ismail — as we all know the history — to leave Hajar and a little infant baby, Ismail, in the middle of the desert, where the only thing apparently waiting for them was certain death. Because back in those days, Mecca did not have a clock tower — alhamdulillah. Back then it was a barren desert.

Even Hajar was asking — and this is mentioned in a Sahih hadith — while Ibrahim was leaving them: "Is it Allah who commanded you to do this? Ibrahim, where are you leaving us? Did Allah command you to leave us here?" And Ibrahim said yes. And then Hajar responded — and I want you to hear this second uncomfortable truth carefully.

Hajar responded: "If Allah has asked you, then Allah will take care of us. Allah will not leave us. You go and obey Allah — if Allah has asked you, Allah will take care of us."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3364 — narrating the story of Hajar)

I want you to leave your preconceived notions aside for this second uncomfortable truth. I was discussing this point with my wife this morning, and she told me something from her perspective. She said that Hajar did not say to Ibrahim: "You are such a careless husband. You are such a toxic husband. You are such an abusive husband. You are such a heartless husband." Hajar knew that Ibrahim is following Allah, and that she must help in the legacy.

And then Hajar not only supported Ibrahim in obeying Allah — she worked extra hard to compensate for the absence of fatherhood and provided for the family and Ismail. So much so that she ran from Safa to Marwa, Marwa to Safa — why? To provide for the family. Because Ibrahim was obeying Allah.

We are learning something extremely important here. We saw gender solidarity, not gender wars. Not gender antagonism. Not gender hostility. We see gender solidarity. Hajar understood that it is the entire family's obligation to obey Allah. Ibrahim is playing his part, I have to play my part, and Ismail will play his part.

The problem with individualism is that we have even divided the definition of legacy and obedience. Think about this carefully. On one hand, someone might ask: who taught Ismail to be the lovely and obedient son to his father? The answer is Hajar. Because Ibrahim left Ismail at a young age — so who was making sure he would become an obedient son? Hajar.

But then on the other hand — look at Ismail. Pay close attention. Ten to twelve years down the road, when Ibrahim came back, he said to Ismail:

"Ismail, I saw a dream — and because I am a messenger, my dream is based on revelation — Allah is asking me to slaughter you. Tell me what you think." He was asking Ismail to reveal the Tarbiyah — the upbringing — that Hajar had given him.

When Hajar was left with that impossible situation, she reflected patience and she helped Ibrahim to obey Allah. What else would you expect from Ismail? Ismail says:

"Dad, do obey Allah. You will find me patient, insha'Allah."

Take a pause here. In order to get a patient, obedient son like Ismail, we need to first focus on becoming parents and a couple like Ibrahim and Hajar. SubhanAllah. Ismail did not just respond in a vacuum. He had this obedient couple in his DNA, which came out at that moment.

Ismail could have responded: "Dad, you are such a toxic father — you left us alone first, and now you are talking about slaughtering me." In a very modern, individualistic, child-centered society like ours, that might have been the response. But Ismail was raised by Hajar, and he reflected the response of Hajar.

SubhanAllah — as a parent, if you plant bitterness, only rebellion will come out. If you plant tawakkul — trust in Allah — it will grow into obedience and faith. If you want children like Ismail, Wallahi, we have to work as a couple and as parents: are we becoming like Ibrahim and Hajar before we aim for children like Ismail? May Allah make us all like Ibrahim, Hajar, and Ismail. Ameen Ya Rabb.

Uncomfortable Truth #3: The Ultimate Sacrifice — Slaughtering the Inner Animal

The last — and most uncomfortable — truth we must learn from the life of Ibrahim and his family is the ultimate sacrifice: the sacrifice of the self.

When Allah asked Ibrahim to slaughter his son, he was left with two options: either obey Allah, or let the love of Ismail potentially distract him. And just as he had always done before, he picked the obedience of Allah. We know the history — Ismail was replaced by an animal, and we Muslims on Eid al-Adha revive the sunnah of Ibrahim every year.

My point to you, my brothers and sisters listening right now, is this: when we are sacrificing an animal, we need to ask ourselves — who is our Ismail? That is the third uncomfortable question we need to ask. What do you love so much that it is blocking you from obeying Allah? That is your Ismail.

What is the point of sacrificing a goat or sheep on Eid al-Adha when we have a haram business that we cannot slaughter for the sake of Allah? We just became ritualistic. We did not get the substance of sacrifice. What is the point of sacrificing an animal on Eid al-Adha when we cannot sacrifice the inner animal — pornography? We have to slaughter this inner animal, this inner monster, before we can slaughter the animal outside.

What is the point of slaughtering an animal on Eid al-Adha when you cannot slaughter your own ego — and because of that ego, you are slaughtering your relationship with others? And the most difficult part: what is the point of slaughtering a sheep or a goat on the day of Eid al-Adha when you cannot sacrifice a job at a company that funds the slaughter of your brothers and sisters in Gaza? Difficult, right? That is the legacy of Ibrahim.

That is why I started with "uncomfortable." It is not just heart-softening reminders like videos on Facebook. Ibrahim did not have a fear of getting cancelled. Real sacrifice — if you learn anything — is to slaughter the inner animal: the ego, the nafs, the sin, the addiction, anything which takes me away from Allah. I have to put my knife on it. SubhanAllah.

And Allah concludes this in a beautiful way:

When Allah tested Ibrahim at every point of life — either Me or your desires — he picked Allah. May Allah give us the tawfiq and the steadfastness.

Conclusion

Sacrifice on Eid al-Adha is not just a ritual, my brothers and sisters. There is a fiqh — and fiqh has its importance — but beyond the fiqh, what is the spirit of sacrifice? It is not just a ritual. It is a worldview.

Every single day, whether you are a ten-year-old boy or girl or a seventy-five-year-old brother or sister in the community, when you step out, ask yourself: every single day, you are making decisions between two choices. Whatever decision you are making, you are left with two options — following Allah or following your desires. If you are a weak person, you will surrender to your desires. If you are following Ibrahim — and I know that all of us are brothers, daughters, and sons of Ibrahim, and may Allah make us that — ameen Ya Rabb — then you have to pick Allah. Even if it goes against your own benefit, whether financial, personal, or social.

May Allah give us the ability to sacrifice our Ismail, to know and recognize the idols of our time so that they can be destroyed, and so that we can essentially follow the legacy of Ibrahim, peace be upon him.

Ameen Ya Rabb. Ameen Ya Rabb. Ameen Ya Rabb.

And establish the prayer.