The Meaning of Eid for the Muslim Ummah

Hajj, the fifth pillar in Islam, rightly serves as the culminating experience for a Muslim’s spiritual journey in life and the struggle with which it is associated. Following the rights of Hajj, believers all around the world celebrate Qurban Bayram (Feast of the Sacrifice), also known as Eid al-Adha, meaning that which regularly returns. What is the meaning of eid to the Muslim Ummah? What is it that we are celebrating? And how best to translate the struggles and sacrifices associated with Hajj (and Islam in general) into daily practice?

Answering these critical questions calls for a deeper understanding of Hajj and its relations to the temporary human predicament on earth. Then, we might be able to draw the needed meaning of Qurban Bayram. Indeed, per Islamic understandings of the Quran and Hadith, the rights of Hajj date back to Adam and Eve’s first days on earth since both were guided to the exact location of the Kaaba – the Sacred House, by God Himself, to serve as a site for humankind to reconnect with the Divine after the banishment from paradise.

The Quranic narrative mentions Adam and Eve’s banishment for eating from the forbidden tree to be sent down to the earthly realm. However, from a deeper spiritual examination, the real consequence can be located not in the loss of the materiality of paradise, rather it is in the essence of spatial distance from God. How the Hajj fits into the human mission on earth and what the eid represents for the Muslim ummah at this time is directly connected to the constant human distance from God due to forgetfulness, heedlessness and attachment to the material world. Hajj and eid represent the call for an intentional and conscious return to the One and only God and then to open a new chapter in one’s own life.

In the midst of difficulties, trauma and struggle, God is calling on the human being out of love and concern for his wellbeing and an emphasis on re-centering mankind to fulfill his purpose in creation, a custodian to express the infinite mercy of the all-merciful. Just as God forgave Adam and Eve for their transgression in the heavens and guided them to Mount Arafat, the Mount of Mercy, He is ever merciful and forgiving of those who call on Him, especially during the sacred days of Hajj.

Another dimension of Hajj and the eid is the symbolic reenactment and the following in the footsteps of Prophets Abraham and Ishmael, as well as, the struggles and sacrifices of Hagar, Ishmael’s mother. The Abrahamic Quranic narrative represents the essence of God’s love for the human being. What we can see in Abraham and Hagar’s narrative is God’s protection toward His righteous servants, patience with the human being in the struggle to uphold the truth, constant guidance and eventual spiritual attainment despite the monumental temporal challenges.

Eid is symbolic of the believer’s journey toward God to admit wrong, take responsibility and seek forgiveness. Then to return to the world anew, unburdened by the heaviness of past transgressions and the state of forgetfulness. God loves those who return to Him and those who are in constant remembrance. Likewise, God calls on the human being to repent and seek forgiveness because He is the all-merciful and oft-forgiving, which means transgression is the human condition in need of a remedy by a return to God in a state of humility.

The struggle and suffering of Muslims in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Libya, Somalia, Myanmar, Yemen, and the Central African Republic as well as the ravages of Islamophobia in Europe and North America call on all of us during eid to return to God in unity. Suffering and struggle is part of the human condition, but the challenge is to work toward the self and the collective transformation by holding tight on “God’s rope” and to be the guiding light in the midst of darkness. The annual eid represents the purposeful actualization of holding tight on the Divine rope of guidance and celebrating the witnessing of this metaphysical reality.

We might not be able to ameliorate the horrific conditions of our brothers and sisters across the world, but we can rest assured that our calling on the Divine has a metaphysical reality that is more real than the contingent reality we experience. As those who performed Hajj represented in deeds and actions the singularity of humanity by going around the Kaaba, running through the Safa and Marwa and standing on the Mount of Mercy – it is imperative for every Muslim to replicate the purposeful turn toward God and the unity it represents.

God loves humanity with Hajj and eid serving to crystalize the vast and never diminishing Divine reservoir of forgiveness, generosity and mercy toward humankind. The eid of the sacrifice is correctly named to reflect Abraham and Ishmael’s readiness to totally submit to the will of God. However, another aspect and just as significant is God’s intervention to rescue Ishmael and by extension and symbolically all human beings. Eid for the Muslim ummah represents the abode of Divine love, mercy and belief of His intervention to guide and protect those who embody steadfastness, struggle, sacrifice and service to others in their journey in the world.

What eid means for the Muslim ummah is a deep realization that God is present with us at all times and in all circumstances. God is present and witnesses what is underway with the Syrians, Palestinians, Afghan, Somalis, African Americans, Native Americans, Libyans, Somalians, Rohingya and Yemenis. God was with His servants on the Bosporus Bridge and in cities and towns across Turkey. God is with His servants in all these places and the Syrians in particular, those in the refugee camps in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon or those who rode the waves of the Mediterranean to arrive onto solid land. More importantly, all those who died are presently in the Divine presence and remembered in the days of the eid.

Eid is to announce and declare in joyous voice across the globe that God is here with the human being ready to embrace and welcome those who repent, struggle, sacrifice, serve and love for no other reason than to reflect Divine purpose. Arriving at Hajj in unity, reflected in the mode of dress and actions in unison, despite diversity, is the critical lesson for the Muslim ummah, and eid is the right occasion for actualizing this in daily life. Unity with diversity and readiness to sacrifice for a higher purpose is the meaning of eid for the Muslim ummah, and today is the time to actualize it in intention and deeds.