The Message of Eid ul-Adha

EID UL-ADHA

On Sunday, 11 August 2019 at 11.00 am, we will be holding Eid-ul-Adha prayers at our UK headquarters at Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley HA0 4JQ, where the Worldwide President of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, Hazrat Ameer Prof. Dr Abdul Karim Saeed Pasha will offer prayers and address the Eid assembly.

Eid-ul-Adha is integral to the observance of the Hajj, or pilgrimage to the holy city of Makkah (Mecca). The sacrifices offered at this time by Muslims throughout the world, while they outwardly commemorate Abraham’s sacrifice — important for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike — serve, in fact to impart a lesson relevant to all of humanity.

Regarding sacrifice, the Holy Quran has this to say:

Not their flesh, nor their blood, reaches God, but what reaches Him is your righteousness and doing of duty. (22:37)

Another verse says:

“I (God) desire no sustenance from them, nor do I desire that they should feed Me.” (51:57)

God does not require from human beings the offering of any material thing or performance of any outward act with the aim of averting His wrath. Pilgrims, setting aside their everyday concerns, dressed in the plainest and simplest of white garments, display only their common humanity and complete equality before their Creator. Selfish desires and outward show are relinquished. The sacrifice of Eid ul-Adha reflects and complements these features of the Hajj. It represents the sacrifice or surrender of the lower, ‘animal’ nature, whereby we abandon bad habits and seek to imbue ourselves with the divine qualities, and ultimately it represents the entire submission of the soul before the presence of its Lord. Such was the submission of Abraham and Ishmael.

We extend a warm welcome to all to attend our Eid celebrations, regardless of their creed, their gender or any other human distinctions.

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The Ahmadiyya Association for the Propagation of Islam (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaʻat Islam) was established in Lahore in 1914 to promote the informed understanding of Islam in the West. In the UK it operated the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking until the early 1960s. Its new headquarters is at Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, HA0 4JQ, UK. In 1924, in Berlin, it built the first mosque in Continental Europe of the modern era. The German Government recognises the Berlin Mosque as part of the German national heritage. From its European and other centres around the world this organisation has taught that Islam promotes peace, harmony and mutual respect between all communities and nationalities.

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