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Sacrifice: A Means of Becoming Closer to God

Lead Article
When the truth of our seemingly small actions is revealed to us in the Hereafter, they will make us say in astonishment, “O God, how bountiful You are! You have taken these little things, made them bloom, flourish, transform, become eternal, and now You are offering them to us!”
| Fethullah Gulen | Issue 159 (May - Jun 2024)
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Sacrifice: A Means of Becoming Closer to God

In This Article

  • A person supporting others with their personal wealth—be it in the form of alms or sacrificial meat—is the minimal degree of generosity for one who considers himself or herself a believer.
  • “They (believers) prefer [others] over themselves, even though poverty be their own lot.” (al-Hashr 59:9)

At the beginning of the second chapter of the Qur’an, God Almighty declares that He is the actual owner of things and we are temporary keepers: “Out of what We have provided for them they spend...” Namely, what we donate is actually nothing but blessings He has granted us. By pointing out that “He” is the actual Provider of sustenance, He reminds us that there is no need for us to worry about depletion. This point is more directly expressed in another verse, that God Almighty, the Omnipotent One, is the Provider of sustenance of all creatures (al-Dhariyat 51:58).

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