Reis Kavazović: Sacrifice helps us overcome human arrogance, passion, and greed

The head of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Husein ef. Kavazović, addressing believers on the occasion of Kurban Bayram in Sarajevo today, wished peace, joy, and prosperity for all Muslim men and women in the country and the world, writes the Patria news agency.
Reis Kavazović especially remembered the wave of displaced people who need help, and called on believers to alleviate their suffering as much as they can.

The Patria agency conveys the full Bayram message of Reis Kavazović:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

We turn to Allah in our joys and happiness, in our sorrows and grief. In all our movements, thoughts, desires, and actions, we express gratitude to Him.

O Allah, the Exalted, guide us to Your path and strengthen the good within and around us. Help us to be worthy bearers of Your trust, with which You have honored us on earth.

Muslims today perform the most important ritual of Hajj: they are on Arafat. Both those at that chosen place, and we in our homeland, and Muslims around the world, await tomorrow. Today and tonight, joy of Bayram, its gentleness, tranquility, and security are gradually embracing our families and homes.

In these chosen moments, we will remember that Hajj literally means movement and effort to overcome something. Hajj is a movement towards Allah, an effort to overcome human arrogance, passion, and greed. In that movement of ours, the sacrifice (kurban) supports us and brings us closer to our Creator and His mercy.

During the Kurban Bayram, Muslims remember that sacrifice is an integral part of human life. Without effort and exertion, there is no moving forward, and without movement, man and humankind would perish. Hajj is our reminder of that movement, of the effort in search of a new purpose and source of life. In that movement (Hajj) and sacrifice (kurban), we also recognize man's essence; he is a traveler who, constantly moving from place to place, bravely and decisively prepares for the final journey – to the Hereafter.

Hajj represents the closeness we want to achieve in a great human family. In that family, we all stick together. We are all children of one parent, we all have one home, we are all brothers and sisters and should not frighten each other. Adam and Eve are our parents, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is our spiritual father, and the Kaaba is our common home. We bring joy into this family. Let us not bring suffering. Because, we choose both joy and suffering ourselves.

These days, we witness the suffering of many people: children, women, and men. Here is an opportunity for us to help them, to bring relief and joy into their misfortune, and to fulfill the meaning of Hajj and sacrifice in the most beautiful and noble way.

Brothers and sisters, on this day, our thoughts are with our pilgrims in Mecca. We ask Allah (SWT) to accept their worship in the most chosen places on earth as good deeds. I congratulate Muslim men and women in the homeland and the diaspora on Kurban Bayram, wishing them to spend it in joy with their families, neighbors, and friends. I wish the sick and the displaced that Bayram brings relief.