The act of giving and receiving gifts\nis a common practice on Eid occasions. \nOne of the best gifts that Allah has offered is the Eid Salat. But why is our Eid gift an act of prayer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the holy Quran, the aim\nof creation of mankind was to worship Allah1 and to get closer to Him (as much\nas possible). This will bring eternal salvation. The term Eid is rooted from\nthe word \u2018Uod (in Arabic) which means the return to the Creator. Any deed that\nwill cause a servant to become closer to his Lord is in effect the mercy of the\nLord to His servant. The existence of Salat as an act of worship in religion is\nin general one of the best2 ways to become closer to Allah. Salat is at any time and place a very unique\nblessing and gift of Allah to His servants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salat was bestowed as a gift to the\nHoly Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) during his spiritual Me\u2019raj journey.3 In\nessence, Salat as we know it today was made obligatory from the Me\u2019raj trip4,\nand not from Medina or Mecca! When the\nProphet (PBUH&HP) was asked what he had brought from the Me\u2019raj journey,\nthe Prophet (PBUH&HP) said, \u201cI have brought Salat.\u201d5 So the blessing from\nthis very grand Me\u2019raj trip and the ascent towards the Lord was Salat,\notherwise before Me\u2019raj Salat was not in this form and manner. It is therefore not without cause that some\nof the scholars have said \u201cSalat\u201d to be the \u201cMe\u2019raj of the the pious,\u201d5 for it\nis one of the best tools for gaining proximity and closeness to Allah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Normally, in response to a pious act,\na person is rewarded. When in the month\nof Ramadan, one fasts and praises his Host in utmost respect, Allah offers him\na gift on the Eid ul Fitr, and that gift is the Salat al Eid. In other words, the reward bestowed upon the\nservants at the end of the month of Ramadan, on the Eid ul Fitr, is Salat,\nmarking the time of celebration with the best possible deed for closeness to\nAllah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise when the pilgrims perform\ntheir rituals with care and consideration, and deem the Lord as a witness in\nall their actions, they shave their heads on the tenth day of Dhu al-Hijjah,\nand depart the clothing of pilgrimage (Ihram) in the land of revelations. Here\nagain Allah offers them a Salat for the Eid of Sacrifice as gift. And when a Salat is offered on that land on\nthe Eid al-adha, it becomes known as the land of celebration and that Salat\nbecomes the best possible deed for closeness to Allah.6 7 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, by performing prayer in the\nEid of al-Adha we have additional mercy of the Lord bestowed upon us. And the act of prayer is the best gift we can\nreceive from the Lord for it is the best we can perform to get closer to Allah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Selection from\nan speech of Ayatullah Jawadi Amoli with minor additions)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congratulations to all Muslims and\nespecially you dear friend<\/p>\n\n\n\n
on the auspicious occasion of the Eid\nal-Adha<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A time of freeing oneself from all\nchains, and attaching oneself to the Giver of Life<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Footnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1.The Holy Quran\n51:56<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Sheikh\nKulaini addresses the following tradition from Mu\u2019awiyah Bin Wahab that, he\nasked Imam Sadiq (PBUH) about the best of deeds which brings closeness towards\nAllah (SWT). Imam Sadiq (PBUH) replied \u201cAfter knowing Allah (SWT) I do not know\nany deed better than Salat (Prayer)\u2026\u201d al-Kaafi, vol. 3, pg. 264<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3.Points to the\nfact that Allah took Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) from Masjid al-Haram to\nMasijd al-Aqsa in one night and then ascent him to the skies and presented His\ngreat signs and verses to the Prophet (PBUH&HP). This incident took place\nwhen the Prophet (PBUH&HP) was awake and the travel took place physically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. al-Kaafi,\nvol. 3, pg. 487<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. First Majlesi\nin Rozatul Mutaqin vol. 2, pg. 17 \u2013 Second Majlesi in Mir\u2019aat al-Uqool, vol.\n12, pg. 331<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6. This prayer\nis optionally offered out of mercy to those who cannot make it to Mekka for\npilgrimage of Hajj<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7. Eid al-Adha\nprayer is performed in two rak\u2019ats; three takbirs after each Hamd & surah\nof is recited; for more details please refer to Mafatih al-Jinan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The act of giving and receiving gifts is a common practice on Eid occasions. One of the best gifts that Allah has offered is the Eid Salat. But why is our Eid gift an act of prayer? According to the holy Quran, the aim of creation of mankind was to worship Allah1 and to get […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28431,28248],"tags":[25106,17778,20770,24920,18131,17978,18418,21076,17943,25107,25105,19695],"class_list":["post-4908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eid-al-adha","category-occasional-letters","tag-2017-09-01","tag-allah","tag-arabic","tag-eid-qurban","tag-holy","tag-lord","tag-occasion-letters","tag-possible","tag-quran","tag-salat","tag-the-gift","tag-worship"],"yoast_head":"\n