Shahadah: Witness, Testification, Sacrifice

The Call to Witness, to Testify

Al- Saffat 37: 102. Then, when (the son)
Reached (the age of)
(Serious) work with him,
He said: "O my son
I see in vision
That I offer thee in sacrifice:
Now see what is
Thy view!" (The son) said:
"O my father! Do
As thou art commanded:
Thou will find me,
If God so wills one
Practising Patience and Constancy!"
103. So when they had both
Submitted their wills (to God),
And he had laid him
Prostrate on his forehead
(For sacrifice),

104 We called unto him: O Abraham!

105 Thou hast already fulfilled the vision. Lo! thus do We reward the good.

106 Lo! that verily was a clear test.

107 Then We ransomed him with a tremendous sacrifice.

Eid al Adha, the Day of Sacrifice is the focal point of the Muslim year.  Every other act of ibadaah leads us to this great day, the day when our lives are ransomed by a tremendous sacrifice. 

As we mentioned, it is not the blood or meat that reaches Allah SWT.  He is not some pagan deity who requires blood sacrifice or some sort of feeding to do our bidding.  The ancient Aztec people believed the gods required human blood, so when their civilization came under attack by the Spanish, they stepped up the butchery of prisoners, killing their own people daily, until the temples ran with blood and human skulls were piled in mounds.  Even without the Western penchant for exaggeration, the carnage was horrific. 

22: 37. It is not their meat
Nor their blood, that reaches
God: it is your piety
That reaches Him: He
Has thus made them subject
To you, that ye may glorify
God for his guidance to you:
And proclaim the Good News
To all who do right.

Allah does require a sacrifice, but not of blood or meat.  He requires a sacrifice of ourselves, to Him and to Him alone.  He requires our surrender. He requires our witness, our acknowledgment that He is our Lord. Alaisa rabbakum? “Arent I your Lord.”  “Yes, you are our Lord.”  He provides us guidance and salvation, and we should glorify Him and be grateful for His blessings and mercy.  We show this by our submission to Allah in Islam, and the first pillar of Islam is the Shahada – the Witness.

So what is it to be a Shaheed?

2:143. Thus have We made of you
An Ummat justly balanced,
That ye might be witnesses
Over the nations,
And the Apostle a witness
Over yourselves;

The Muslims are a middle and balanced Ummah; not people of extremes, and they are the witnesses over all Mankind.  Our shahadah is not only words:  Ash-shahadu allah illaha illa llah, wa ash-shahadu anna Muhammadan ar-Rasul Allah.  It means to witness this – by telling others, by guiding others to the truth.

We need to talk to others about our deen, but we also need to live our deen, so that we become ambassadors of our faith, showing others that people can live a moral life, free of selfish behavior, injustice and misery.  This is testification.  To testify to something is to confirm its truth.

And we need to guide others to the truth, as our Rasul guided us.  We do this by Amr bi ma’aruf, wa Nahi al-munkar – commanding the right and prohibiting the wrong –

What does this mean?  It means to preach and practice morality. 

Man’s reason can lead us quite far.  After all, we are all gifted with the fitrah.  A reading of the Analects of the great Roman Emperor, Marcus Arelius, shows what truths human reason can attain.  Logic may lead us quite a ways along the path, but then what is the role of guidance that Allah SWT promises He will send us? 

A quick preview of the decisions of the American Supreme Court shows that what a people might find “moral” at one time, can change.  Should morality change?  We can brainwash ourselves into all kinds of beliefs.  And Morality is not necessarily logical.  As Allah SWT says, a thing may be good for you and you dislike it, and a thing may be bad for you and you like it.  We may not always appreciate the harm a thing can have until its too late. 

The Prophet is the witness over this Ummah – he is so, because he provides us with a model, and he is the best of models.  He provides us with a pattern, a criteria for judging right and wrong, and telling what ma’aruf and munkar are. 

While logic can tell us a lot, and even lead us to posit a god, it is faith and guidance that leads us to salvation through ethical action. 

We took this amana upon ourselves, foolishly perhaps, arrogantly even, but because we took on the amana of ethical action, we are the ones who must witness to all creation the ma’aruf and the munkar.  May Allah guide us to the truth, the ma’aruf, and save us from munkar.

 The Call to Be a Shaheed

So what is it to be a shaheed?  What is this Day of Sacrifice pointing to?  All the Prophets have been shuhadaa.  All gave their lives fi sabilli llah, in the path of Allah, the cause of surrendering to Allah, and witnessing to others the truth of this message, this Good News.

Some where killed, but not all.  Musa lived a long life and ascended into heaven.  Isa, also, ascended into heaven, and it is believed by both Muslims and Christians, that he will come again.  However, Ibrahim, AS shows us the meaning of sacrifice – this great sacrifice.  

Ibrahim's people were pagan; they worshiped idols and the stars and planets.  But Ibrahim began to have his doubts about these so called gods.  The Qur’an mentions two arguments against pagan beliefs.  First Ibrahim looks up and sees a star, and thinks, ok this is my lord – the one who provides me with all sustainance.  But the star sets.  So how could this be a lord?  Then what about the moon?  It set too.  Then how about the sun.  Many ancient civilizations worshiped the sun.  But it set.  So Ibrahim says in gratitude to Allah, if Allah SWT had not guided him to the truth, then he would be in clear error.  He submits to Allah all of himself, his obedience and relies totally on Allah.

Then Ibrahim raises an argument against idol worship.  They go out for an Eid, and he enters their temple, smashes the idols, all but one.  In the hand of the one, he puts an axe.  The people return and are shocked.  Who did this?  They get Ibrahim, since he had been talking about their idols.  He says the one idol did it.  After all, he has the axe.  The people say this cannot be so.  Its just an idol.  …  so why are you worshipping something that has no power? What foolishness is this?

For all of this, Ibrahim is willing to risk death.  They throw him into a fire.  But Allah SWT cools the fire and he survives.  He is willing to give everything to this Allah SWT who guided him and showed him the truth.

Time moves on and he has a son.  He always wanted a son.  The son was the most precious thing to him.  Now Allah asks him to give up, to sacrifice even that.  And he is immediately willing to do so.  But he also asks his son.  The son is also willing.  Both are fulling committed to Allah.  They are true shaheedain.


And Allah tells Ibrahim that he has fulfilled his vision.  Allah does not need blood or meat, he loves our taqwa – our grasping Him as the most secure handhold, our clinging to him, like a babe to a mother.  Ibrahim fulfills the vision by his willingness to sacrifice all, give all, surrender all, and express his full gratitude to Allah SWT.  That is what is a shaheed.  

The shuhadaa are those who give all  to Allah, and only they are suitable as witnesses over all humanity.  It is a serious commitment, to leave behind our egos, our comforts, all that we think we are, and fully obey Allah, no excuses, no justifications, no loopholes.  

This Eid al Adha many will sacrifice an animal.  And we will share this great day of ransom with all who have been the guests of Allah on Hajj.   But for the hajjis there is no Eid really.  It is more a day to remember that ancient covenant between man and Allah, and to renew that commitment ourselves.  The same should be true for us all.  

Remember when he said to you “Am I not your Lord.” And you responded, ‘Yes, indeed you are our Lord.”  

Labbayyak Allahumma Labbayyak, labbayyak la sharika laka labbayyak. Inna al hamdu, wa ni’amata, laka ul mulk la sharika lak.