The Takoradi Metro Chief Imam, Sheikh Imam Mohammed Awal Shuaib, has urged Muslims to renew their faith and recalibrate themselves to live their lives according to the teachings of the Qur’an and the example of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
“Society tends to benefit from sacrifices, and as a Muslim, we must lead the way to sacrifice and be obedient to authority, all your sacrifices and obedience must reflect in your relations with officials of state and state institutions,” he said.
Imam Shuaib said this in a sermon after leading Muslims in Eid prayers in Takoradi to mark Eid-ul–Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice.
“Let us prepare ourselves for the life of sacrifice. Without making the sacrifice we will not be able to start the revival of Islam.
“We should be ready to sacrifice our time, our wealth, our resources and our personal likes and dislikes. If we are sincere then Allah will help us. He will guide us and open the doors of success for us,” Sheikh Imam Shuaib told the congregation.
“Sacrifice is an essential requirement to test the sincerity of our Iman and to fortify our position with Allah. This has been clearly demonstrated through the examples of Prophets Ibrahim and our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW),” he added.
He urged Muslims to always be willing and waiting to sacrifice the things that they loveand cherished adding “Our money, cars, houses, clothes, jewelry, land – all of which are possessions of this world. We must be willing to sacrifice all if we are to “strive in the cause of Allah with our property and person” (Qur’an 61:10-11).
“My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, our sacrifice of goat, sheep or cow is a symbolic sacrifice. In a sense that we should reflect that just like the helpless animal is willing to be a sacrifice for the will of its Creator, we must also be willing to sacrifice our lives, possession, inner desires and egos,” Imam Shuaib said.
“So we should ask ourselves, are we willing to place ourselves like a helpless animal in the control of the will of our Creator? Far too often this lesson is missed and our sacrifice on this great day becomes only a ritual practice without any meaning to change ourselves, our personality.
“Therefore, make this day, a day of renewal of your covenant with Allah, make it a day of renewal of your faith in the heart and in actions, make it a dayour pursuits of the world should be for the pleasure of Allah and not for the sake of pleasure,” he advised.
We must pursue the material things to enable us to look after our families, our relatives, to support our communities and our country.
By Times Reporter
