Prophet Hazrat Ibrahim had the great privilege to add an appellation after his name "Khalilullah" which means Friend of Allah Rabbul Alameen. Almighty Allah desired to test His friend Hazrat Ibrahim, and it was undoubtedly an acid test for him, but he came out with flying colours. Benign Allah ordained Hazrat Ibrahim (A) to sacrifice in the name of his Lord Creator his dearest thing in the world. Since his son Hazrat Ismail (A) was the dearest thing to him in the whole world, he sacrificed him in deference to Almighty Allah's command although at the end his son was not actually slaughtered. In his place a thick-tailed sheep was slaughtered as desired by Almighty Allah.

Muslims all over the world celebrate the festival of holy Eid-ul-Azha every year in the lunar month of Zilhajj in commemoration of the supreme sacrifice made by Hazrat Ibrahim Khalilullah. Millions of healthy, robust and unblemished cows, goats, sheep are sacrificed on the occasion. While celebrating the festival we, however, give greater importance to observance of the rites and formalities of the occasion than following the real teaching of Eid-ul-Azha. As has been stated above a very small percentage of our Muslim population endeavour to be pious and virtuous to show reverence to Allah Rabbul Alameen as clearly indicated in Ayat (Verse) 37 of Sura (Chapter) Hajj of the Holy Quran. Almighty Allah declares:

"It is not your meat nor their blood that reaches Allah: it is piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to you, that you may glorify Allah for His guidance to you: and proclaim the Good News to all who do right."

In the aforesaid Quranic Ayat Benign Allah clearly says that He does not delight in flash and blood of the sacrificial animals. He puts great emphasis on piety. And what is the meaning of the word piety? Piety, interalia, means Reverence for Almighty Allah. So, it is only possible to show reverence for Him when His "Bandas" or servants will meticulously carry out His commandments indicated in various Ayats of the Holy Quran. But unfortunately instead of following His commandments most of His "Bandas" attach greater importance to purchase of healthy and robust animals on the occasion for such animals may enable them to prepare delicious dishes out of the meat of the sacrificial animals for days together. To them perhaps gastronomic delight is more important than the helpless condition of the poor, indigent and unfed people living in their neighbourhood. We should not, therefore, remain oblivious of the helpless condition of these unfortunate fellow-men.

We should be specially careful to mitigate the sufferings of our neighbours for Benign Allah has specially revealed a Sura with a view to looking after comforts of our needy neighbours, and the name of this Sura of the Holy Quran is Sura "Maun" or "neighbourly needs." He has cautioned the moneyed and affluent people of the society not to be unmindful of the needs of their needy neighbours. Relevant Ayats of Sura "Maun" are quoted below:

Ayats 4-5: "So, woe to the worshippers who are neglectful of their Prayers, those who (want but) to be seen (of men), but refuse (to supply) (even) neighbourly needs."

The Quranic Ayats referred to above clearly indicate that we should be careful about the dire needs of the neighbours.

There is still another very important Ayat, Ayat 9 of Sura Munafiqun (Hypocrites) of the Holy Quran in which Allah Rabbul Alameen declares:

"O ye who believe! Let not your riches and children divert you form the remembrance of Allah. If any acts thus the loss is their own."

Almighty Allah has warned the rich people through the above quoted Ayats of the Holy Quran to take lesson from them.

I will be failing in my duty if I do not also give a reference of another important Ayat of the Holy Qur-an, that is, Ayat 7 of Sura Hadid (Iron) which has a direct bearing on the rites and celebration of holy Eid-ul-Azha popularly known as "Qurbani" (Sacrifice) and which has also relation with "Piety" on which Merciful Allah has laid great emphasis. In this Ayat He says in unequavocal terms:

"Believe in Allah and His messenger, and spend of that whereof He has made you trustees, and such of you as believe and spend (aright) theirs will be a great reward."

This Quranic Ayat clearly and unmistakably indicates that a man may be a billionaire, but he cannot say that he is the owner of this huge amount of money he has earned by the "sweat of his brow." He is merely a trustee or custodian of that. The havenots have a right to share atleast a small portion of his huge bank balance. As desired by Benign Allah, the poor, indigent and helpless people of the society including the needy neighbours should not be deprived of this money so that society would be a better place to live in. After all these poor and needy persons are human beings. They are all Almighty Allah's supreme creation ("Ashraful makhluqat") on earth. They should not be deprived of at least a small portion of the wealthy person's money.

As has been stated sacrifice of animals is symbolic. Hazrat Ibrahim Khalilullah's sacrifice conveys something noble and something ideal. And what is that? That is the Muslims who sacrifice animals every year on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha in consonance with Lord Creator's commandment should sacrifice atleast a small portion of their wealth keeping in view the symbolism in order to bridge the wide gap between the haves and havenots. They should remain free from all kinds of misdeeds and malpractices. Let us not remain oblivious of reverence for the Lord Creator, as has been indicated in Sura Hajj. And that is the real teaching of Eid-ul-Azha. Let us celebrate the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha in Bangladesh with due solemnity.