INTRODUCTION

Sacrifice is the theme to which I have been asked to address myself today.

What does the word mean? In a wider sense, 'sacrifice' means giving up things which are vauled or desired. Those things may be tangible, countable like time, wealth or life, or intangible, unmeasurable like feelings, attitudes, opinions or aspirations. They are given up for the sake of something that is more worthy or more important or more urgent. It is important to bear in mind, though, that primarily sacrifice means slaughter of animal or person as offering to God, and, hence, surrender to God of some possession.

It may be difficult to find in the Quranic vocabulary an exactly equivalent word for sacrifice, which also has as wide a literary usage. Nearest in meaning perhaps is nusuk: 'Say, my Prayer and my nusuk (sacrifice), my living and dying - all belong to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds' (al-An'am 6:162). 'Giving', however, is a fundamentally important motif in the Qur'an, stressed again and again. Iman (the faith), says the Qur'an in numerous places, must lead to spending 'of what We have provided them'. Along with Salat, 'giving' suffices to support, encompass and symbolize a life based on Iman. Provision, given by Allah, and to be given away by man, includes everything that man has, whether it be concrete or intangible. In one place in the Qur an, 'giving', along with taqwa (refraining from doing wrong) and tasdiq (accepting the truth), is all that is required to characterize a good life.

Surely your striving is to diverse ends. As for him who gives, is God-conscious and believes in the Truth - for him shall We make easy the path towards ease. But, as for him who is niggardly, behaves as if he is self-sufficient and denies the Truth - for him shall We make easy the path towards hardship (al-Layl 92: 4-10).

Sacrifice is the stuff of which good and successful, ordinary human lives are made. Without it, life will be devoid of peace, harmony and co-operation, full of conflict and discord, a prey to self-centredness, covetousness and immediate gratification of desires. Moreover, neither families nor communities can exist or achieve cohesiveness and strength without some sacrifice on the part of their members. Also, no human endeavour can, succeed in reaching its goal unless one sacrifices things valued or desired.

What is true of ordinary human life and endeavour, whatever its nature or importance, is certainly much more true of Islamic life. For, Islam simply means surrender to God of your whole being, not of just some possession. Put in the language of our present discourse Islamic life is a life of sacrifice par excellence. It entails a struggle that must be ceaselessly waged, to aetualize Islam, inwardly and outwardly, to make it a living reality.

Sacrifice is the nourishment without which the tiny seeds of Iman will not grow into mighty, leafy trees, providing shade and fruit to the countless caravans of mankind (Ibrahim 14:24-5). It must be the constant companion without which the path of Jihad cannot be traversed, for across it stretch endless deserts and high mountains (at-Tawbah 9:24). It is one of those keys without which the closed doors do not unlock (al-Baqarah 2:214). It is true whether the path taken is personal - to reach spiritual and moral heights, or social - to cast life and society in the mould of Islam (surrender to One God). And it is true, when these two paths most desirably merge together. For the loftier the goal and more arduous the way, the greater the need to sacrifice, and sacrifice more and more.

Sacrifice, as you can now see, is a vast subject. Closely intertwined with it is the equally vast and important theme of trials and tribulations (ibtila' and mahnah) and of patience (sabr). One can dilate upon it without end, but a comprehensive treatment is not my aim. Many aspects of this well-known subject are quite familiar to you. Hence I would try to emphasize only such aspects as in my view deserve more attention, or are more relevant to our present concerns.