Dear Brothers and Sisters!  

We thank Allah (swt), who has created humanity out of nothing and gave life, that he allowed us to reach Eid al-Adha today. In Islam, “Qurban” is a way to come closer to Allah (swt). In particular, it refers to slaughtering certain types of animals at a certain time for the purpose of being close to Allah (swt), that is, for worship. Sacrifice is present in almost all religions and is performed in different ways and styles. The origin of the sacrificial worship of Islam started with one of the great prophets Ibrahim (as)’s son, Ismail (as), being replaced by a ram by Allah (swt). In the Quran Allah (swt) says; “O Prophet, saying˺: “Follow the faith of Ibrahim, the upright, who was not one of the polytheists.”[1]

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Worship of sacrifice is one of the slogans of the religion of Islam. In one of his hadiths, Rasulullah (saw) states the following regarding the virtue of sacrifice: “A human does no action from the actions on the day of sacrifice more beloved to Allah then sacrifice.”[2] As a matter of fact, sacrifice is a precious gift that we offer to Allah (swt) to gain His approval. It is one of the greatest signs that we are on His path with our property and our lives. Prophet Muhammad (saw) during the Eid-al-Adha sermon he gave to his Companions has said, “The first thing to be done on this day (first day of Eid-ul-Adha) is to pray; and after returning from the prayer we slaughter our sacrifices (in the name of Allah) and whoever does so, he acted according to our Sunna (traditions).”[3] This worship will continue to be an obligatory worship for Muslims until the last day, without being affected by the changes of time.

Dear Jama’ah!

Allah (swt) mentions in the Quran; “Neither their meat nor blood reaches Allah. Rather, it is your piety that reaches Him. This is how He has subjected them to you so that you may proclaim the greatness of Allah for what He has guided you to, and give good news to the good-doers.” We must remember the famous hadith of our Prophet (saw); “Actions are according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended.”[4] It is our duty to make an account of our intentions in all our good deeds. We should be aware that any of our deeds that are far from sincerity and that lead to hypocrisy will not be valid in the sight of Allah (swt).

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Allah (swt) has hidden countless wisdoms in each of our worships. One of the most obvious wisdoms of sacrificing and cutting is undoubtedly the spread of brotherhood. Sacrifice and the distribution of the slaughtered meat means preferring others to oneself, and the development of the self-sacrifice morality. This will also contribute to the development of the ummah. Let’s not forget that the Qurbans we have sacrificed or have given to Hasene are for the less fortunate and oppressed people of the world. These actions only strengthen our brotherhood.

May Allah (swt) accept the sacrifices we have made. May Allah (swt) make the distribution of slaughtered meat a means of spreading goodness and solidarity in the world. May Allah (swt) allow us to spend a fruitful Eid with our families and friends. On this occasion, I wish you and the whole Islamic world a blessed Eid. Ameen!

[1] Surah An-Nahl, 16:123

[2] Tirmizî, Edâhî, 1

[3] Buhârî, Îdeyn, 3

[4] Buhârî, Bedü’l-Vahy, 1; Müslim, İmare, 155

Khutba: Eid al-Adha