According to our religion, good deeds, be it in any form, work as a shield against the difficulties, calamities and problems of life and stand as a wall in front of them and protect us and our family members and loved ones. No doubt, our life is full of difficulties and no one can ever claim to be absolutely satisfied and happy of his life and has no problems at all.

In the same way, we face numerous problems. Some of these problems may be those that can be averted or avoided but there are definitely present some of them that cannot be controlled. For example, a few days earlier, I heard of an incident that really saddened me. A poor man, who was the only bread-winner of his family and who was a daily wager, was invited to a wedding ceremony of one of his relatives.

Some of his neighbors were also going there. He also got ready and they started walking to the house of the relative as it was close to them. When they were passing by a wall, at once the wall fell down and this poor man became the direct victim of it.

The person who was walking beside him sustained minor injuries as he was walking on the opposite side. Anyhow, he was badly injured so he was hurried to a hospital but he lost his life on the way. Such incidents are called 'Afaat' in Arabic and Persian and May Allah save all of us of such uncontrollable tragedies.

It is said that when we do a deed of kindness (like helping a poor, feeding a hungry person, or distributing things of daily need among the poor and others), such tragedies can be averted or avoided. But problem is this; many of us believe in it but hardly follow this golden rule. Whenever we see such a tragic incident, we decide of doing an act of kindness but soon forget it until the problem knocks our door.

In order to avoid this problem, we have been provided with special occasions when we can do an act of kindness and bring more blessings in the lives of others and of course in the lives of our family members and relatives. These include the holy month of Ramazan when people arrange special dinners for the poor or help them by giving them money in the form of Fitr and Zakaat. These points have been described in detail in the articles written in the month of Ramazan so here we would look in detail on the importance of the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha or as we generally say, 'Eid-e-Qurban'.

Normally, doing an act of kindness individually is not very easy. First, when we see that others are not doing anything, we also don't get enough encouragement to do it ourselves. Secondly, any such act of kindness can easily make us feel proud of it and thus make this act of goodness as base of an evil.

That is why it has been repeatedly emphasized that we should try to do a kindness without showing it to others. There is a saying of our Holy Prophet (PBUH) in this regard that, "Do an act of kindness from your right hand in a way that your left hand should not come to know about it". But on this blessed occasion of Eid, conditions are absolutely suitable for any such act.

First, people try all their best to sacrifice an animal in the name of Allah and earn divine favor and blessings. It has been seen that people who are not having enough money to buy an animal have done this sacrifice by borrowing some money from others.

When people see that others are enthusiastically engaged in this act of kindness, they are also motivated by this and thus also try not to remain behind from others. Secondly, sacrifice on the day of Eid is carried out by almost everyone so no one feels proud of his sacrifice and it appears to be as something normal.

Sacrifice on Eid day is a unique occasion to renew our faith on Allah and hail and surrender to the unmatchable qualities of Allah. Some of the Islamic scholars and philosophers have discussed this issue with a different and rather interesting perspective. A question might emerge in our minds that how we can please Allah by slaughtering an animal and it appears to be a bit against the logic.

Then they say that it is also a form of complete sublimation to Allah that we do an act just to please Allah and we do it ignoring any kind of logic. It means that we keep Allah dear to any thought, or idea and we show our complete sublimation to the orders and directions of Allah. This is a very important point to be understood as all the religions are based on the system of beliefs.

This tradition of sacrificing animal on the name of Allah stems from the famous story of Prophet Abraham when he saw himself sacrificing his son, Prophet Ismail in his dream. When he saw the same dream for three consecutive nights, he took it as an order from Allah to slaughter his son in the way of Allah. He told his obedient son about his dream and he at once agreed that will of Allah should be preferred to anything even to his life. When Prophet Abraham was about to cut the neck of his son, a lamb was sent from heavens and the sacrifice of the lamb was accepted.

When Prophet Abraham dreamed the same dream for three consecutive nights, he took it as an order and then he ignored his love to his son, different questions arising in his mind and devoted himself for fulfilling the will of Allah and this is the only way that we can elevate to the top ranks of spiritual gain and contentment. The word, 'Qurban' also means devoting or sacrificing what is dear to you in the name of Allah in order to win the favors and bounties of Allah.

It is of common observation that we feel it very difficult to give away something that is dear to us. At times, when money is collected for a noble cause, people are found to be showing very mean or miser attitudes. It doesn't mean that people are not having enough rather it is because of the love of wealth and material belongings. In a condition when one feels difficulty in giving one penny to someone, Qurbani requires of us to give away a complete lamb in the way of Allah. This is another way of making corrections in our inner feelings. (To be continued)