The Modern-Day Udhiyah
Pick your modern-day sheep. And guess what, it doesn’t have to be furry.
It’s the second day of Dhul Hijjah and I’m struggling to connect with what this means for me here in my new home state, VA.
I’ve read so many hadiths and verses about how special these 10 days are. In fact, I’ve even memorized Surat Al Fajr which quotes these verses:
By the dawn (89:1) and [by] ten nights (89:2)
And as I tried to understand why I wasn’t feeling it is much, I pushed myself to think about this:
What is the essence of these blessed days?
One word came to mind: sacrifice
I wondered, what does it mean to sacrifice today beyond giving our udhiya? How do we truly align with our spiritual father, Abrahim AS?
I immediately thought of my parents, with whom I’ve associated the word sacrifice for so long. They are on their way to Hajj now it and it makes my heart so full.
It makes my heart so full to know that they held off on Hajj for years so that they could afford to send my siblings to Islamic school.
It makes my heart so full to think about how they always put us first.
This year, my siblings (all seven of us) decided to send my parents off to hajj as a small token of appreciation for raising us, investing in us, and shaping us to be the people we are today.
Maybe the reward is greater in these ten days exactly because we don’t feel the same spirit as Ramadan?
Just like when we give up things or go out of our way for the people we love, we don’t always feel the spirit either, but perhaps that’s where the greater struggle lies.
As my parents head to Mecca soon, I am still left thinking what will I sacrifice in these next 10 days as a token of appreciation to Allah SWT?
What if I gave up meat these 10 days to reduce my carbon footprint? Maybe donated my car to someone struggling with access to transportation? Or voved to buy second hand clothing rather than increasing consumption? How about helping bail out a migrant family to be reunited with their loved ones?
What do I love so much?
Pick your modern-day sheep. And guess what, it doesn’t have to be furry.
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If you’re looking for resources to make the most of out these 10 days check out some of these amazing initiatives to help you connect more spiritually with these blessed days:
The LaunchGood Dhul Hijjah Challenge: Incredible easy way to give a little charity daily with tips on how to revive the forgotten Sunnahs of Dhul Hijjah.
Islamic Relief USA: Take the no meat till Eid challenge and encourage three friends to do the same.
Pilgrims at Home: Rabata’s annual ibāda competition wherein teams compete to partake in as much ibāda as possible in solidarity with the hajj pilgrims.
