Jum'ah Journal- Principle of Sacrifice

 Day after tomorrow (Sunday when I may not find time for my usual "Surkhi") all over the Muslim world animals will be sacrificed and plenty of meat will be available for all those poor who cannot afford meat much. Is that all what sacrifice means though?
 God clearly says:
 "It is not their blood that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches him............." (S Al-Hajj Aya 37)
So what is being given to us as a lesson? piety which briefly means staying away from the prohibited and doing what is pleasing to god.
 A prominent Urdu poet said it nicely
دل کسی کا ہاتھ مین لے حج اکبر جان لے
 Literally meaning take someone's heart in your hand that would be equal to Great Pilgrimage. It can be interpreted as helping some in who is poor, giving a helping hand to a needy person, spending time giving company with some one lonely, sacrificing one's time for the benefit of another less fortunate. Sacrificing one's ego and forgiving a person who may have done wrong to you. That is real sacrifice-that of 'self'Of course there are more meanings to 'sacrifice' that for example I have not even mentioned sacrificing the most beloved thing in your life (Like Prophet Ibrahim did of his only son, what is being 'commemorated'.)

Please visit my Urdu blog at http://saugoreebsc.blogspot.com/ and my Hindi blog at http://wahajuana.blogspot.com/