‫‪Eid Al-Adha 2009‬‬

‫‪ ...‬أكـ بر ﷲ أكـ بر ﷲ أكـ بر ﷲ أكـ بر ﷲ‬

‫عرف ات من أفاض وا ق د والحجي ج العي د ي وم ص باح ف ي ! أكـ بر ﷲ‬
‫‪ ...‬الح ج ش عائر يتم ون‬
‫‪ ...‬ف أغنى وأعطى وأك رم أنع م ! أكـ بر ﷲ‬
‫‪ ,‬نعمت ه علين ا وأت ّم‪ ,‬دينن ا لن ا أكم ل الي وم ھذا ف ي ! أكـ بر ﷲ‬
‫‪...‬دين ا اإلس الم لن ا ورض ي‬
‫تعينه نحم ده ! أكـ بر ﷲ‬ ‫تغفره ونس تھديه ونس‬ ‫ب ه ون ؤمن ‪ ,‬ونس‬
‫‪ ...‬علي ه ونتوك ل‬
‫ال رحمن ھو والش ھادة الغي ب ع الم ھو إال إل ه ال ال ذي ﷲ ھو ! أكـ بر ﷲ‬
‫‪ ...‬ال رحيم‬
‫الم ؤمن الس الم الق دوس المل ك ھو إال إل ه ال ال ذي ﷲ ھو ! أكـ بر ﷲ‬
‫‪ ...‬المتك بر الجب ار ع زيزال المھيم ن‬
‫‪ ...‬يش ركون عما ﷲ س بحان‬
‫الحس نى األس ماء ل ه المص ور الب ارئ الخ الق ﷲ ھو ! أكـ بر ﷲ‬
‫‪ ...‬الحكي م الع زيز وھو واألرض الس موات ف ي ما ل ه يس بح‬
‫ال دين عل ى ليظھ ره الح ق ودي ن بالھ دى رس وله لن ا أرس ل ! أكـ بر ﷲ‬
‫‪...‬المش ركون ك ره ول و كل ه‬
‫ونذيراً ومبشراً شاھداً ‪ ,‬ونبيا ً رسوالً علي ه ونس لم نص لي محمد ! ـ برأك ﷲ‬
‫‪...‬‬
‫!بع د أما‬

‫‪Sisters and brothers:‬‬

‫عليك م الس الم‬

‫‪As our Eid this year has coincided with the Thanksgiving Holiday, my topic today is‬‬
‫‪thanksgiving. While history conflicts on the origin of this holiday in America, the‬‬
‫‪meaning of it, and the celebration in the spirit of gratitude to the Creator is commendable.‬‬
‫‪While most Americans consider this to be a nonreligious national holiday, the religious‬‬
‫‪tone is unmistakable, To thank God for the harvest is not but a human reaction built in‬‬
‫‪ . To deny God is to reject natural‬عليھ ا الن اس فط ر ال تي ﷲ فط رة ‪as a human nature‬‬
‫‪tendency and to refuse to be thankful. Hence with gratitude to Allah we Muslim‬‬
Americans would take any opportunity to offer our thanks, joining all our fellow
Americans in this holiday in its true meaning of thanksgiving. We further realize that:
thanks is due to Allah for guiding this nation to choose such a day to celebrate together
regardless of creed or origin a day of gratitude of the bounties the Lord has bestowed on
us as a nation.
But we should always pause to look at the shortfalls, as humans' endeavors are always
incomplete, or don't deliver what is promised; The holiday’s telling of the story of the
American Indians in this country is worth pondering; wether it was a true story or not, it
reflects the opposite message of the Holiday;while, we are told, that the Natives taught
the Pilgrims how to survive the harsh winter and helped them farm and fish, and they
gathered together to celebrate a day of feasting, history goes on to record the worst
treatment native people suffered at the hands of the new comers. Emptying the continent
of its original inhabitants is indeed a clear example of ingratitude, and the absence of
remorse regarding what was done to the native Americans is inexcusable. In Hadith by
Imam Ahmad ‫ الكث ير يش كر ل م القلي ل يش كر ل م من‬، ‫ وجل عز ﷲ يش كر ل م الن اس يش كر ل م ومن‬Those who are
not thankful for the little they are given they are not thankful for the plenty, and those who are not
thankful to people they are not thankful to Allah.

In Surat Al-haj which takes its name from the pilgrimage which we celebrate today we
read this passage
"‫األنع ام بھيم ة من رزقھ م ما عل ى ﷲ اس م لي ذكروا منسكا ً جعلن ا أمة ولك ل‬. ‫فل ه واحد إل ه ف إلھكم‬
‫أس لموا‬.‫ن وبش ر‬ ‫ الح ج "المخبتي‬٣٤ 22.34
" For every nation We made rituals to remember the name of Allah for what he gave
them of the animals as sustenance. As your Lord is One, to him you shall submit and we
give good tiding to those who are humble"
Nothing I heard or read about thanksgiving in this country would fit better than this Aya
in summarizing the whole concept of the Holiday, and it happens to be in the Qur'an in
the context of what we are celebrating today Haj and Eid of Sacrifice. Any ritual to thank
Allah for his bounties is praised in here, underlining the unity of human kind as all being
the subjects of one god. Intention always counts remembering the name of Allah while
feasting and celebrating is the key, as some clergy mentioned a few years ago when
Ramadan was upon us during thanksgiving that: Benjamin Franklin suggested a day of
fasting and feasting in the true spirit of being thankful to God.

What is the tradition of thanksgiving in Islam? I will be spending the rest of the time
explaining this point:
I like to start with the two Muslims' Holidays; we are ordered to celebrate Al-Fitr and
Al-Adha both are the culmination of our own warship after a long month of fasting and
after a long journey of pilgrimage. At the conclusion of the Aya about the month of
Ramadan we read in Surat Al-Bakara:
"‫ھداكم ما عل ى ﷲ ولتك بروا الع دة ولتكمل وا العس ر بك م يري د وال اليس ر بك م ﷲ يري د‬
‫ البق رة "تش كرون ولعلك م‬١٨٥ 2.185
" Allah wants to be easy on you, and not make you suffer hardship, so you may
complete your rituals, thus glorifying Allah for his guidance and may be you will
be among the thankful" This sentence " ‫" "تش كرون لعلك م‬you may be thankful" is
repeated again in Aya 22.36 in the conclusion of the Haj when pilgrims are
ordered to sacrifice the animals and feed the poor, this ritual it emphasizes will
not benefit Allah but it will remind you of the bounty of goods given to you on this
earth.
So are the two Muslims Holidays days of thanksgiving? we might say so, but
Islam always takes every concept and advances further for those who seek a
higher level achievement. To understand this point we need to review the Arabic
word ‫ ش كر‬which is translated in English as thanksgiving. In Lesan Al-Arab
dictionary: Al-shukr is always a gratitude for a favor, showing of gratitude could
be with similar deed or with a praise, mentioning the favor is a praise and a
thank. : ‫تش كرون لعلك م لك م س خرناھا ك ذلك‬
Shukr is specified in the Qur'an to be one of the most praised action of human's
toward their Creator, attaining the value of being thankful ‫ ش اكر‬deserves praise
and reward: We read in Surat Al-Israa, for example, that Allah wanted to praise
Noah so He describes him as a "grateful subject" 17.3 ‫" االس راء "شكوراً عبداً ك ان إن ه‬
Shukr also is equated with Iman as the antonym of Shukr is Kufr , the word Kafer
is often translated as non-bliever, actually in its origin it means ungrateful, and
often it is mentioned in the Qur'an to mean just that, hence denying God who is
the life giver is being ungrateful to everything the Lord has given us. No doubt the
word Kafer has gained the meaning of non-beliver as it is used to describe those
who denies the existence of God or associate others in His worship. We read
ّ ‫ "ثالث ة ثال ث ﷲ‬and we understand it as those who said
"‫إن ق الوا ال ذين كف ر لق د‬
Allah is one of three are nonbelievers, but we might as well understand it to
mean; those who said Allah is one of three are ungrateful, because they actually
do believe in Allah, they are not denying God, but by associating others with
Allah they are not thankful for what the Lord has given them of life sustenance
and guidance.
In the Qur'an the meaning of gratitude might take three different words in three
different degrees of intensity; First: To mention the name of Allah "‫اس م لت ذكروا‬
‫ " علي ه ﷲ‬thus just mentioning the name of Allah when we sacrifice an animal for
food and when we sit down to eat a meal is the minimum showing of gratitude to
the provider of the materials which sustain our life. Second: is to be thankful
‫ الش كر‬as we mentioned earlier in the context of fasting and pilgrimage, in both
places there is emphasis on the fact that achieving the degree of the
Thankfulness as Noah did is not an easy task. Finally the word " ‫ " تك بروا‬to
glorify, this is an ultimate in thanks because it can't be used to thank anyone
other than Allah, and in both places; fasting and pilgrimage it was used to show
gratitude for Allah for his guidance " ‫ﷲَ لِتُ َكبﱢرُوا لَ ُك ْم َس ﱠخ َرھَا لِكَ َك ٰ َذ‬
‫ الح ج " ھَدَا ُك ْم َما َعلَ ٰى ﱠ‬٢٢-٣٧
Guidance from Allah deserves the utmost degree of thanks; glorification.

Shukr is mentioned in the Qur'an to be due when material giving is mentioned but also
it was also mentioned to be important when intangibles deserve our gratitude; as we
saw earlier that guidance from Allah deserves our utmost of thanks, another example
we found in Surat Lukman 31/12 to 14 which add the dimension of thanking humans in
addition to thanking Allah.
Let us read together
" ‫اش كر أن الحكم ة لقم ان آتين ا ولق د‬ ‫غ ني ﷲ ف إن كف ر ومن لنفس ه يش كر فإنم ا يش كر ومن‬
‫إن ب ا تش رك ال ب ني ي ا يعظ ه وھو إلبن ه لقم ان ق ال وإذ " حمي د‬ ّ ‫ووص ينا " عظي م لظل م الش رك‬
ً
‫المص ير إل ّي ولوال ديك ل ي اش كر أن ع امين ف ي وفص اله وھن عل ى وھنا أمه حملت ه بوالدي ه اإلنس ان‬
In this context Lukman who was given the wisdom by Allah is asked to give thanks, The
gift of wisdom should make the one who is blessed with such gift more humble toward
Allah who gave it to him and not be arrogant about his superiority, the reasoning here is
that giving thanks would serve the person himself not Allah, as Allah is not in need for
our thanks, nor of those who are ungrateful. We should notice here that Shakar and
Kafar were used as antonyms in comparative fashion.
The wise man Lukman advises his son as every parent should, and he starts with
identifying the unity of God as of utmost importance because the act of associating
Allah with others is a grave injustice. The text takes a detour here to take this
opportunity to advise all of us that next to Allah our gratitude shall be given to both
parents, the father who was given the wisdom to advise and nurture and the mother
who is singled out here to outline her role in bringing every man to life, yes " Give
thanks to your Lord and to both of your parents, to Allah you shall return"
We pray that Allah gives us the wisdom and guidance, to make us among those he has
blessed of being thankful for his guidance, for the sustenance and for our lives.
We thank you Allah for our parents for our children for our health and for our fellowship

‫ أكـ بر ﷲ أكـ بر ﷲ أكـ بر ﷲ أكـ بر ﷲ‬...

"‫دنكم ش كرتم لئ ن رب ك ت أذن وإذ‬ ‫رتم ولئ ن ألزي‬ ّ ‫" لش ديد ع ذابي‬
‫إن كف‬

Your Lord proclaimed: if you give thanks Allah will increase His giving and if you show
ungratefulness the punishment is indeed severe"

All we have covered so far is being grateful for what was given to us, but Islam as I said
earlier always challenges us and pushes us above and beyond what is the basic
requirement, no one captured this concept better than Rabeaa Al-adwya she is quoted
to utter this prayer:
‫العب ادة تس تحق إل ه ألن ك أعب دك إنّي ب ل ن ارك من خوفا ً أو جنت ك ف ي طمعا ً أعب دك ال إن ي اللھ م‬
Oh Allah I don't worship you hoping for your Paradise nor for fear of your hellfire, but I
worship you because you are god and you are deserving of my worship.
In Lesan Al-Arab dictionary The word Shukr is gratitude for favor given, while the word
Al-Hamd is gratitude with or without a prior favor, this is a meaning well captured by
Rabaa Al-adawya. In all the passages we read so far today the word Shukr is always
mentioned with a gift or a bounty bestowed on us, sometime material bounty and some
time intangible gift like guidance or wisdom. But when we read Al-fatha (the Opening)
‫الحم د‬ it is absolute, the word Al-Hamd encompasses glorifying and gratitude; The
thanks and praise are given without a reason except that Allah is ‫ الع المين رب‬the Lord of
the universe and the absolute thanks and glorification belong to him alone.

If the nation celebrate a day of thanksgiving the Muslim life is a life of gratitude to the
Creator the Sustainer the Merciful and the King of the day of judgement. Everyday when
every Muslim starts his day reading Al-fatiha he starts with glorifying and thanking Allah
for being our Lord.
We pray again to be a nation of Thankful people who are just to all nations and to all
creators.

‫قض يت ما ش ر عن ا وارف ع عافي ت فيم ن وعافن ا ھ ديت فيم ن اھدنا اللھ م‬

‫الن ار من والعت ق والعافي ة العف و نس ألك إن ا اللھ م‬
‫لجالل ك الحام دين لنعم ك الش اكرين من اجعلن ا اللھ م‬
‫وس لم وص حبه وآل ه محمد س يدنا عل ى ﷲ وص لى‬
‫ أكـ بر ﷲ أكـ بر ﷲ أكـ بر ﷲ أكـ بر ﷲ‬... ‫وك ل بخ ير اذھب وا‬
‫بخ ير وأنت م عام‬