MUSLIMS will celebrate ‘Eid-ul-Adha’ tomorrow, an event that marks the culmination of the Pilgrimage to Mecca, or the Hajj. Today, however, is Father’s Day, marked this year with a nationwide march organised by “Men on Mission” (MoM), a brainchild of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali.
Launched in 2022, MoM is hoping the march will raise awareness against all types of violence and underscore an important point – physical aggression has no place in our society. While a great deal separates Eid-ul-Adha from Father’s Day, dads can draw inspiration from the life of Prophet Abraham, described as the father of all Prophets in both the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions.
So revered is Prophet Abraham in the Islamic tradition that Muslims invoke his name and ask God to bless him and his family in the five daily prayers a Muslim must perform every day.
Muslims pray facing the direction of Mecca in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Ka’ba is housed in that sacred city and it was built by Abraham and his son Ishmail and dedicated to the worship of God. In the Quran we learn that God accepted Prophet Abraham’s offering and the Ka’ba is described in the Quran as ‘the house of God.’
Remarkably, Prophet Abraham, his son and his wife were home-builders. Everyone is entitled to a home, a place of celebration, joy, refuge and solace. This is one of the services that MoM has provided from its inception. MoM has handed over dozens of homes to deserving men and women, moving them from deplorable living conditions to the comfort of a space they can call home.
In the Quran, Prophet Abraham is described as a “friend of God” and as a “fataa.” The latter refers to “a vibrant youth endowed with the quality of chivalry, a unique virtue that reflects the lofty ideals of wisdom, courage and justice.”
Prophet Muhammad instructed his followers that Prophet Abraham inscribed the traditions and rituals of the Hajj.
During the Pilgrimage, Muslims commemorate Abraham’s wife, Hagar, and re-enact her desperate search for water to quench the thirst of her infant son. After running between the two mounts of Safa and Marwa, she returns to her son only to find him drinking water from the well of Zamzam, a well that continues to give water to millions of pilgrims who visit the sacred precinct to worship and circumambulate the Ka’ba.
In the New Testament, Jesus encourages his disciples to hold fast to the virtues of Prophet Abraham. Prophet Abraham was steadfast in his belief; kind, decent, generous to his wife Sarah and then to Hajar. According to the Bible, he was promised, when he was at an advanced age and still without an heir, that he would be the father of a multitude of nations.
Of the two sons of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac, the Bible tells us that the Lord said to Abraham: “Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. As for Ishmael…behold, I will bless him and make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.” In the Quran, God is quoted as saying to Abraham: “I will make you an “imam” (a spiritual leader or a model) to the nations.”
Prophet Abraham’s model of parenting is timeless and universal. You don’t have to be a person of faith to recognise the amazing lessons that some religious scriptures convey. He married and desired a family and when a child was not forthcoming, he prayed for years for a child. He was given an entire nation and that’s why he is described in the Quran as “a nation” unto himself.
Prophet Abraham was also a person of deep conviction and faith and whatever tumultuous events he experienced in life he remained steadfast and unwavering in his belief. So ardently committed to his family that we learn in a tradition from Prophet Muhammad that Abraham will be a caregiver to the children of paradise.
Fathers have a tremendous responsibility and, indeed, at times it is a struggle to stay the course, but in building communities of families and mutually supporting each other, fathers can build the foundation of a society that allows wives, husbands and children to enjoy the fruits of our wealth and prosperity.
On this occasion of Eid-ul-Adha and Father’s Day, I pray that fathers in the length and breadth of Guyana will embrace the vital role they play in nourishing and shaping our nation’s future leaders, doctors, engineers, teachers, nurses, and lawyers.
