Muslims, Shiite and Sunni, celebrate Eid-ul-Azha, the Big Eid, this week. And last Sunday, the Christians celebrated Whitsun, also called Pentecost, the day when the Christian Church was founded, fifty days after Easter and ten days after Ascension Day, according to the Bible’s New Testament. Although Muslims do not celebrate the Biblical Ascension Day, the Second Coming of Jesus/Isa still forms part of the belief of Muslims and Christians alike. In Judaism, the third branch of the Abrahamic religions, believers follow the Bible’s Old Testament, and there, Jesus/Isa’s first coming has not yet happened. At this particular time of the Muslim calendar, at the end of the pilgrim-month of Hajj, we are certainly aware of the story about Prophet Abraham/Ibrahim’s near-sacrifice of his son, as a test of how strong his obedience and love for God/Allah was: was it indeed stronger than that for his most beloved son?

Prophet Abraham/Ibrahim passed the test, being said to have been willing to sacrifice his son. But not doing it, as that would have been wrong. God/Allah stopped such a ‘tremendous (‘azeem’) sacrifice’ from happening. A lamb became the ‘tremendous azeem’. We should understand Abraham/Ibrahim’s willingness and his original intent of sacrificing his son, as revealed to him in a dream, to be taken symbolically, as illustrating how deep our level of love and obedience for God/Allah should be. Also, God/Allah’s direct intervention shows his mercy and underlines that we must always love each other and God/Allah. In all religions, love........

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