May the spirit of this holiday which commemorates the dedication and sacrifice of our forefather Abraham and his family inspire us towards good deeds, unity and hope.

As a recent article by an ING staff member published by Patheos this week reminds us: “the very narrative upon which this holiday is based is one of unreasonable, radical hope in the face of all odds. Central to the holiday Eid al-Adha and the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, is the story of a woman named Hajar or Hagar in Arabic, who defied all odds when left with her young son in the desert… In the Islamic tradition, this young man, the son of Hajar, grows up to be a prophet like his father Abraham, named Ishmael, or Ismail in Arabic. He once again is subjected to a test of his very life when according to both Quranic and Biblical narratives, Abraham is commanded to sacrifice his own son. Here again, in the face of all odds, the son is miraculously replaced by a lamb or ram, and the son regains his life once again.

“This story, commemorated by Muslims at hajj and around the world this week, is a story of radical hope in the face of a seemingly impossible situation. This week, Muslims across the world will remember and commemorate that sacrifice and the hope we can feel even in the face of darkness. It is the kind of hope that all religious traditions inspire in their adherents; it can be the motivation for incredible acts of love, courage and kindness. It is believing that despite the growing darkness, there is a glimmer of light. We have seen that light materialize and give us hope with the recent cancelling of hate rallies in the Bay Area this past weekend as well as the cancellation of the national anti-Muslim rallies scheduled for September 9th.”

Read the rest of our article on Hajar and Ishmael here.

Eid Mubarak!

— ING Staff