Cleric explains the importance of Eid-el-Kabir

The Director, Markas Islamic and Arabic Training Centre, Agege, Lagos, Sheik Habeebullahi Al-Ilory, on Sunday urged Muslims not see the Eid-el-Kabir celebration as an occasion to slaughter only rams.Al-Ilory, in his sermon, advised Muslims to rather see the occasion as an opportunity to re-examine and purge themselves of bad deeds.He said, "As you slaughter your rams, dont assume that the celebration starts and ends there. As you slaughter your rams, also slaughter enmity, backbiting, hypocrisy and all the things you have been doing that are not in line with the teachings of Islam as practised by Prophet Mohammed."God will neither eat from the meat nor use the blood. Rather, he wants to test our faith as Muslims and this important message should not be lost on us."Al-Ilory observed that the celebration was to bring to the memory of Muslims unshakeable faith in God, perseverance, fulfillment of promise as demonstrated by Prophet Ibrahim and his son, Ismail.He said the attempt made by Ibrahim to slaughter his son as a sacrifice to God brought an end to the use of human beings as sacrifice.Al-Ilory, a member of the Al-Azari Islamic Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt, said another important lesson to be learnt from the historic event was that the faith of believers would be tested from time to time to know how firm they were in their relationship with God.He said the high point of the event was the dialogue between Ibrahim and his son. This, he added, showed Ibrahims faith in God, his willingness to fulfill his promise and his sons obedience that his father should sacrifice him.Al-Ilory said, "This is an uncommon faith and should be a wake-up call to all children that they must obey their parents and parents in turn must not shy away from their parental role. Children must be good to their parents and vice-versa."If you want to be a believer, you must obey Gods commandment as Ibrahim had demonstrated this. This made him a ready example to be emulated by all mankind."
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