According to Quranic account, the Sayings and Deeds of Prophet Muhammed, (Peace Be Upon Him), Eid El-Kabir, translated as a Festival of Sacrifice in English Language, draws its origin from unalloyed, self evident and unwavering submission and obedience to the Will of Allah, the Creator of Heaven and Earth; and all therein, by Prophet Ibrahim, his son, Ishmael, Hagar, his wife and Ishmael’s mother; and some other faithful family members of his (Prophet Ibrahim).
The holy, religious and festive event which ultimately culminated into a global Festival of Sacrifice by Muslims resulted from the dreams that Prophet Ibrahim was reported by the holy Quran to have divinely had in which God (Allah) tested his submission to, and faith in Him by commanding him to sacrifice his first son, Ishmael, to Him.
Strange, difficult and painful as the order obviously was to Prophet Ibrahim, though divine, he obeyed His Maker and Friend, without thinking twice about it because the demand came from the All-knowing God. He called Ishmael, Hajar and his other faithful family members and told them of Allah’s commandment . Ibrahim was encouraged; Ishmael, the requested sacrifice was not hesitant, he obliged by telling his Father to sacrifice him as God had commanded him.
Ready on the mountain Arafat with a sharpened and salivating knife held between his kind but faithful fingers and obedient palm to slit the submissive throat of the Sacrifice, Ishmael, his son, God in his infinite mercy gave Prophet Ibrahim a ransom in a fat, healthy and attractive ram through Angel Jibril (Angel Gabriel) to sacrifice to Him instead of the devoted and willing Ishmael.
Today, ram as a replacement for Ishmael is a divine thaw in what would have been a disturbingly frozen heart of men and women of the world. And this has once again confirmed the many puzzling and divine ways of the Almighty God of mercies who creates a way where there is none as he did for Prophet Ibrahim.
Eid El-Kabir, the holy festival of Sacrifice, did not start as a festival immediately after the ram sacrifice was ordained. It was reported to have been established much later by Prophet Muhammed as a reminder of the uncommon and total obedience of Ibrahim to God’s commandment and to honour him for the rare submission to God’s Will in spite of Satan’s intrusion to tempt him to flagrantly ignore Almighty Allah and His commandment.
Eid El-Kabir has come and gone. And we celebrated it with subdued fanfare unlike in the past when Muslims all over the world held El-Kabir with almost unrestrained flourish. There are many reasons that accounted for the gentleness of Eid El-Kabir of this year among which is the war propelled by the US President Donald Trump in Iran which has global consequences in terms of its capacity to further depopulate, spread angst and impoverish the people of the world.
The colorfulness of the festival had been substantially dimmed by the dragging Russia – Ukraine war. Isreal, backed by the mighty United States of America, is stronger than Gaza, Palestine and Lebanon. The consequence: Gaza is gone or has nearly gone. Palestine is being pounded into a pulp by Netanyahu’s Israel, a people who pride themselves, biblically, as the annointed and the chosen children of God. America’s Trump said might is right and went to Iran with his thousands of unmolested bombs prompting Iran to hold the Strait of Hormuz by the jugular which effect is the soaring oil prices and every other thing that hitherto eased our life. Oh my God! Where is the lessons that God has taught us the replacement of Ishmael’s precious life with that of ram? Did God not command man not to kill in the holy books? Where is Abraham in us?
In Nigeria, before the war in the Middle East, we were already wallowing in the abyss of hopelessness and destitution. Abject Poverty was walking on all fours amidst the populace. Insecurity was herding poor Nigerians into widening grave yards without restraint as if the human life in this country is cheaper than that of a helpless chicken . Health, transportation, education, employment etcetera yawn for deserving attention in vain because the rich have vowed the gap between them and the have-nots must continue to widen. ” Fingers are not equal,” they insist.
Because of the overwhelming challenges it unwillingly witnessed, Eid El-Kabir of 2026 came and walked slowly on a slippery slope of celebration. Its holiday was observed as usual. But its feasting was by joyless gatherings. Not much exchange of gifts of different and colourful items by acquaintances and relatives that normally characterised the fabric of Eid El- Kabir took place during the last Festival. It is understandable.
Prices of things got skyrocketed because of the outrageous prices of fuel that resulted from the Israel/US-Iran war. And the effect of this is the unbridled jump in the transport fare which in turn has savagely continued to affect the prices of everything, including herds of ran that sustains the daily lives of the poor Nigerians. Mute fanfare was the nickname of the Eid El-Kabir of 2026.
Its saddened hear notwithstanding, the significance of the people of Islamic Faith regarded as Festival of Sacrifice should not be lost on the faithful and even those that profess other religions.
The lessons of the festival is for all humans. It is about the beauty of obedience to the commandments of God. It is about how God can shower mercies on us when we are in a bleak situation like that of the obedient Ibrahim (Abraham) who, though in grief, still willingly offered his beloved son, Ishmael, as a sacrifice to God as he was commanded, through his arch Angel, Jibril, gave him a ram as a substitute.
For me, the significance of Eid El-Kabir is that God is ever ready to lift us up from our abyss of despair if we obey His orders as He did in the case of Abraham, His friend. He gave him joy in the place of belied tears.This relief can come our ways if we follow the sacred path that God and His Prophets had asked us to walk on. And gently so.
But how many of us- religious leaders, people in different strata of government, Muslims and Christians- are willing to obey God’s Commandments? Very few if any. I am afraid.
God said we should not steal. He abhors fornication and adultery. The Supreme being ordered that we should preserve human sacredness. He hates people that make promises and renege on it. Good governance, government that is sensitive to the sensibilities, yearnings and plight of the people will gladden the heart of God. Today, how many authorities think of good governance? We daily preach the blissfulness of God’s Commandments especially in the Church and Mosque. But how many ‘Saints’ do what they preach in Nigeria? Where is Prophet Ibrahim, his son, Ishmael and Hagar in all of us? Show me, please.
In the Nigeria of today, our greatest challenges remain the lack of economic buoyancy and hydra headed insecurity. If we obey God, His mercies would be upon our country. He asked us to honour our words. We said no; our words are not our bond. As politicians, we will promise the electorates that if they vote for us, we will deliver the dividends of democracy to them. After we have been sworn in with Quran or Bible at the oath taking ceremony, the promise of good governance will fail and it will change to evil governance. No more “I have a date with history. I am in covenant with the people whose votes I depend on to give me my political blaze.”
The promise of splendour by those in the saddle of leadership will change to pervading poverty. Security assurance will multiply in untamable insurgencies such as Boko Haram, armed banditry, kid napping, armed robbery, farmer-herder crisis etcetera. Where is the Ibrahim, the Father of Ishmael in the Nigerians and the trump of this world? Every swear to deliver the dividends of democracy will, upon assumption of Office, swear by Fire: ” My name is betrayal of trust. I am the fang of fatal venoms.”
Abraham who kept his promise to God passed the test of the Almighty God in flying colours and got life instead of death in his son. The kind Abraham’s relief can happen to us if we purge ourselves of everything that God abhors and instructs us to dread like a plague
The story of prophet Ibrahim and Ishmael is the story of the sanctity and sacredness of life. It teaches us to do everything possible to preserve life. The life of Ismael mattered so much to God that he substituted ram for him. If we follow this example as humans, the people who call themselves Boko Haram, armed bandits, kidnappers and other killers should not have been daily disobeying God by slaughtering their fellow being in the name of religion and kidnapping people for ransom. We have replaced empathy with monstrosity. How irreligious!
The blaze and colour of Eid El-Kabir, its feasting, friendly visits, exchange of gifts have come and gone. The question we must ask ourselves as the celebrants should be, ‘how much of the lessons of Eid El-Kabir are we ready to imbibe. The seal of all Prophets of God, Muhammed (SAW) instituted El-Kabir to celebrate Prophet Ibrahim for obeying God’s Will without questions or conditions and to also remind mankind of the gains they stand to gain when they adhere to the injunctions of their Creator.
Eid El-Kabir is all about the holiness of human life as we see it in the protection and preservation of the life of Ishmael with ram as substitute by God Almighty. Let us, men and women, show love for life as embedded in Eid El-Kabir. Let us not wait till the next festival of sacrifice before we remember its teachings. As we imbibe its lessons, let them live with; and in us. Every day of our life should be Eid El-Kabir for us in terms of how we radiate kindness, love, empathy, friendliness, moral qualms, humility, submission to the will of God, trust and everything that pleases God if we want to be His bosom friend like Prophet Ibrahim was and still is in heaven.
– YJ Itopa, Journalist and Poet, writes from Lokoja.
