Hajj is just around the corner. Millions of people will go.
The life of Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH) in Palestine is a powerful link to Hajj, to
Islam, to Muslims, to Jews, to Christians, to the entire world. Today the
representatives in the United Nations are debating the issue of creating a
separate state for Palestine. How does that link to Prophet Ibrahim? In the
Holy Qur’an Ch. 59 Al-Hashr Verse 18, Allah says: “O ye Believers! Do your
duty to Allah. Look to what you send forth for the morrow. Certainly Allah is
has knowledge of all that you do.” Allah commands us to do good deeds that will
benefit us tomorrow. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that if a person lives a good
life, obeys Allah, and does good deeds, his grave will become spacious, and the
person will enjoy a cool breeze as if he’s already in jannah. Even the Earth is
happy in the coming of that person. But if a person lives a bad life and does
no good deeds, his grave closes in on him, crushing him. His tomorrow in that
grave is his first stop to the Day of Judgment. Hajj will be in a few weeks.
People will see the Ka’bah built by Prophet Ibrahim and his son, Ishmael. They
will see Ibrahim’s footprints. They will run between Safwa and Marwa…. All
these are places and symbols of the life and trials of Prophet Ibrahim and his
family. What is the connection between him and this verse, what is his tomorrow?
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that our religion is one of ikhlas or sincerity.
The Jews, Christians, and Muslims all call Prophet Ibrahim the “Father of
Nations,” who was so sincere in his devotion to God that he offered up what he
loved most in this world. At 83 years old, he had no children, and prayed and
prayed for a child. The Torah, Bible, and Psalms tell us the same thing. Sarah
loved her husband and knew she couldn’t give him a child. Allah’s strategy
caused her to give Ibrahim her maid, Hagar, as a gift. Look at Sarah’s
sacrifice: she gave up her selfishness, and Ishmael was born. (Some
unauthentic stories say Hagar and Ibrahim were not “legally” married, so some
people do not accept his son, Ishmael. But they were married, as it was common
practice in those times to have more than wife.) Allah commanded Ibrahim, after
waiting so long for a child, to take Hagar and Ishmael away from Palestine and
leave them in Mecca, a deserted land. This is Ibrahim’s first sacrifice. He
was so sincere, so devoted to Allah that he agreed to give up what he loved most
in this world. He looked to his tomorrow. He didn’t say “But there’s no food,
no water!” And when Hagar asked him “Why,” he said “Allah commanded it.” She
said, “So be it.” She sacrificed being with her husband, and experienced a time
of suffering with her child for the sake of Allah and looked to her tomorrow.
She was the mother of Ishmael and from him came Muhammad. She became the mother
of the largest ummah in the world. Later, when Allah ordered Ishmael’s sacrifice
at 12 or 13 years old, both Ibrahim and Hagar accepted it as Allah’s command.
From Sarah’s selfless gift of Hagar to Ibrahim came Ishmael. And from Hagar’s
unselfish acceptance of the sacrifice of Ishmael came Isaac. The commentators
say that because of this great sacrifice, Allah blessed Sarah with the birth of
Isaac. From these two women we have two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, and from them
we have the Jews, Christians and Muslims. And look at the world today:
Palestine and Israel. Look at the United Nations trying to decide what to do,
look at the political situation. If Muslims go to the Qur’an, and Jews and
Christians and politicians go to the Torah, Bible, and Psalms, they will see
that these people are one family, and the same father was in charge of this
land, and all Jews, Christians and Muslims came from these two women who had the
same husband. So what is this split about? Whatever the politicians will do or
will not do, keep in mind that scriptures say: whatever will be, will be.
Whether they decide on a separation or not, walls or not, when Jesus (PBUH)
comes back, he will say: “Look at these offspring of Ibrahim and Hagar and
Sarah. You people belong to one ummah, you are from one family, your God is the
same God – Allah.” Muslims believe he will tear down the walls and bring the
people back together in proper understanding of obedience to Allah. Because of
the sacrifices of these two women who were so sincere and devoted to Allah,
Sarah and Hagar became the mothers of the leaders of the world, the mothers of
the wealthiest people in the world, the mothers of the most powerful nations of
the world. They are so powerful they can’t even make a decision for themselves,
they must get the United Nations involved to make a decision for them. They are
not obeying Allah because they have gone away from what Allah decided for them.
They run behind the dunya, chasing wealth, power, all the pomp and show of the
material world. And what is this world except play and amusement, wealth and
politics? In Ibrahim’s day, people loved children, and sons were the wealth of
fathers and mothers. Today Allah may not want our sons and daughters, but he
does want our good deeds and our willingness to sacrifice. Our “Ishmael” could
be money, cars, family, business, position, authority. Today when we love
things in this world, be prepared to sacrifice for Allah. So look at the
examples of Sarah and Hagar. Look at what kind of women they were, how they
loved God, and looked to tomorrow. They were willing to sacrifice what they
loved most in this world, and became mothers of the generations to come.
